Discovery Museum Celebrates its 80th Anniversary

2014 marks 80 years since Discovery Museum opened its doors to the public as the then named Municipal Museum of Science & Industry in Exhibition Park, Newcastle. Saturday 19 July will see Discovery Museum throw a very special Birthday Bash for the public to celebrate their 80^th anniversary with a whole host of activities taking place across the museum. The Museum of Science & Industry opened in July 1934 as a result of the hugely popular North East Coast exhibition and received more than 22,000 visits during its first year. As the Museum’s collections grew, the building at Exhibition Park could no longer contain them and in 1978, the Museum moved to its current premises at Blandford Square. In 1993 the Museum was re-launched as Discovery Museum and in 1994; one of the Museum’s best-known exhibits was transported from Exhibition Park to Discovery. Crowds of people gathered to watch Turbinia, the first ship to be powered by steam turbines, as she was transported through the streets of Newcastle from Exhibition Park to her new home, where she now has pride of place in Discovery’s entrance hall. In 2004, a £13 million redevelopment of the Museum was complete, with the galleries and displays refurbished. The following year proved the venue to be the region's most popular museum - attracting 450,000 visitors. Today, the thousands of visitors to Discovery Museum enjoy displays all about life on Tyneside, from the region’s renowned maritime history and world-changing science and technology right through to migration and military history. 2014 is already turning out to be one for the Discovery Museum record books with the popular Toon Times exhibition, charting the history of Newcastle United, helping to bring some 50,000 visitors through the doors in February. Carolyn Ball, Discovery Museum Manager, said: “It’s hard to believe that it is 80 years since the ‘Municipal Museum of Science & Industry’, which went on to become Discovery Museum, opened in Exhibition Park. “This Saturday gives us a chance to celebrate everything in Discovery’s history with our visitors, who I’m sure, will have a wonderful day out at our party.” The 80^th Birthday Bash will see a host of activities across Discovery Museum for all ages to enjoy. Giant games, jazz music, object handling, craft activities plus a fancy dress competition are just some of the highlights. Discovery Museum will also be welcoming some very special guests in the form of Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee who will be taking time out from promoting their new Transformers movie to help staff at the museum celebrate Discovery’s special day. Plenty of give-aways will also be available to visitors with free entry to Play Tyne, the under 5’s water play area, being offered to the first 80 under 5’s plus special cupcakes for the first 80 visitors as well. Staff at the museum will continue to celebrate the 80^th anniversary across the summer with Big Thursday family fun activities happening every Thursday during the school holidays. Some of the highlights include Geordie Day: A Celebration of Tyneside on Thursday 31 July. This event will celebrate the many different cultures found here on Tyneside and will include Urdu calligraphy, recycled art, henna work, Bollywood dancing and Chinese ribbon and fan dancing. Discovery Summer Festival, Thursday 7 August, will bring all the fun of the fair to the museum with hook a duck, coconut shy and other fair-related activities. There’ll also be animal handling sessions for children to get up close with furry and sometimes slimy friends. As well as Big Thursday’s this summer, Discovery Museum will also be extending its opening hours during the week to 5pm.