Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science
This past weekend I visited the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science which is located in downtown Fort Lauderdale catercorner to the Broward Center of Performing Arts. The last time I was there was in grade school, over 15 years ago. Even before that visit, I remember taking school trips to the museum in its previous location which was an old house located on the New River,(I believe.) with a memorable live bee exhibit.(My real only recollection)
My wife and I went to the Museum this time for some sort of bubble exhibit that we thought our eight-month old would enjoy. Unfortunately, what I envisioned would be a fantastical bubble display – with ginormous bubbles and fancy bubble making machines and other bubble fanfare- was simply two or three kiddie pools filled with soapy water and a few bubble wands for the attendees to use. Without wasting time with the weak bubble display, we toured the museum.
The museum could only be described as underwhelming. The live fish tanks were dirty with seemingly unhappy fish and sea life. Most exhibits were antiquated, and unserviced for years. A quantity of exhibits were simply “out of order.” Others were working just well enough to attract your attention but not well enough to keep it. More noticeable, but less tangible, was the feel of an unnatural and unintended grimy-like film on the touchable surface of each exhibit – indicating a combination of infrequent cleanings,if any, and old not-often updated exhibits.
In sum, the museum is a contradiction. It is located on prime South Florida real estate, in a large grand structure not fitting the quality of the attractions inside. Moreover, while I believe the museum is a non-profit organization, the price of admission was in excess of what a reasonable visitor would expect to pay for the quality of the attraction. Lucky for the museum, you purchase your tickets before you even get inside.
07/20/2010
Article by: Andrew Douglas, Esq., Andrew Douglas, P.A., 954.474.4420