The young and young at heart have been visiting Tyler’s Discovery Science Place for, literally, decades. Development Director Tammy Urias is inviting the public to the Founder’s Day celebration Saturday (May 13) to commemorate the 30th anniversary East Texas’ most interactive landmark.
Mike Landess: For UT Tyler Radio, I’m Mike Landess. If you haven’t been there with kids or grandkids, you are missing a treat at Tyler’s Discovery Science Place. And this Saturday, they’re marking a 30th anniversary with a Founder’s Day celebration. With us to talk more about the event and Discovery Science Place, is Development Director Tammy Urias. Welcome.
Tammy Urias: Hi. Thank you for having me.
Mike Landess: Tell us a little bit more about the event this Saturday.
Tammy Urias: Yes, we’re calling it a Founder’s Day Celebration. It is our 30th year anniversary where we’re gonna recognize the founders, how we actually started Discovery Science Place. There were six ladies and their husbands. And they came together and had an idea for pop-up science experiments all over Tyler with the Junior League of Tyler. It was a collaboration there, and then from there, the ladies just went on and incorporated their vision to create this museum.
Mike Landess: And over 30 years, a lot has happened. Full disclosure, I had heard about Discovery Science Place for years. I’d driven by it any number of times, but it was just a few months ago that I took my four-year-old granddaughter there, and it was delightful. She loved the grocery store that was very popular. She loved the nursery and so many other things. Oh, and she liked being a TV anchor on the CBS 19 TV set.
Tammy Urias: Yes.
Mike Landess: But tell us about some of the other items that are there for kids to enjoy and parents to watch and grandparents to enjoy.
Tammy Urias: Sure. We have lots of interactive exhibits. Actually, all of them are, they’re hands on. That’s what we’re known for. There’s a Southside Bank exhibit, which they’re fixing to do a big overhaul, and they’re gonna make a little drive-through thing for the kids. So they’re gonna love that. There is a nursery, there’s a vet clinic where kids can pretend to be veterinarians. There’s a fire station, there’s a courthouse. We have a new Azalea Orthopedics exhibit where the kids can actually examine X-rays and learn how to do splints and wrapping, and there’s crutches there, so that they can play doctor. So that’s all on our hometown side. And then on the landing side is where we have our big ship and cave. I don’t know if you’ve seen that yet.
Mike Landess: We got to see all of that, too.
Tammy Urias: Oh, it’s amazing. And then all kinds of things over there: airways, we have a robotic arm that they actually use in heart surgeries that the kids can play with and just pick up little things there. A rock wall. It’s just full of interactivity. I love the fire station, too, the kids putting on the boots and the coats and all that sort of thing. Now, over 30 years, the facility has continued to evolve. There are so many things for the kids to experience now with the resurgence and revitalization of downtown Tyler.
Mike Landess: You’re located in a great spot for new visitors, but is there any concern at all that the growth of the facility might require you to find another location?
Tammy Urias: There is that possibility, and we’re racking our brains trying to think future in 5 or 10 years or something, but we could always go up. So that’s an option, too. And just make it multiple levels. I think that would simplify it.
Mike Landess: It would seem as though that would have to shut some things down, though, to be able to go up. You’d have to cease operations while you’re doing that kind of construction?
Tammy Urias: Probably. So we do have the annex building right next door, so I’m not sure if we could utilize it and do one at a time.
Mike Landess: That’s very interesting. Now, what are some of the challenges for the Discovery Science Place as you head into year number 31?
Tammy Urias: Just keeping the awareness that we’re there. There are so many who haven’t realized. They’re like, oh my goodness, I didn’t know Tyler had a Discovery Science Place. So keeping that motivation and being out in the community, and we’re trying to do a lot more of that, too, just so everybody knows that we’re there. We can continue growing and continue to bring new exhibits and be relevant to the kids.
Mike Landess: Have you had a good response from the business community in terms of wanting to participate? You talked about Southside Bank, Brookshire’s, the Azalea Clinic there … Are people coming to you saying, “Gee, we’d like to do something?”
Tammy Urias: They actually are. We had a group of lawyers from a law firm come, and they wanna sponsor the courthouse exhibit. So we’re fixing to set all of that up. And starting this year, we’re gonna take on all of our exhibits and create sponsorship packages for them, so we can actually advertise. You know the organizations or businesses on these sponsorships.
Mike Landess: That creates funds for you to be able to do more as well.
Tammy Urias: Absolutely. So we can continue to upgrade because a lot of these exhibits are run down, and they need some love, and that takes a lot of money. And we do have a partnership with UT Tyler, but that helps cover operations, so it doesn’t cover any of the exhibit costs. So this will definitely help, so we can revitalize them.
Mike Landess: Now, (those are) some of the challenges that you’re facing in the future. What kind of things can we look forward to at Discovery Science Place over the next few years?
Tammy Urias: We are bringing in a new, a huge exhibit that’s gonna be over a thousand square feet. It’s an energy exhibit, so it’s going to talk about the relationship for all energy, including the gas and oil, along with solar and electricity and all of that stuff. So that’s gonna be really exciting. We’re partnering with Jasper Ventures and then Museum Arts is gonna come in and help us design the exhibit. So we’re really excited about that.
Mike Landess: We talked a moment ago about footprint. How do you add new exhibits? Will you have to go into that building that you were talking about that you have next door?
Tammy Urias: No, we are going to move some stuff around in our current location right now. Where we used to have Orion, it used to be the space, the NASA area. We’re gonna move that out into regular hometown, and that’s gonna be where the energy exhibit’s gonna be housed.
Mike Landess: You named these areas, and I don’t recall very clearly about all of it. Name the different areas of Discovery Science Center. When you go to a science place, when you come in.
Tammy Urias: OK. When you first walk through the doors, there’s the KO Mine. That’s to the left, and that’s where kids can pan for gold. And it has a little fountain thing. And then when you walk in, we have our gift shop, we have our front desk. To the left is hometown and that’s where Brookshire’s is. Anything that you could find in a little hometown, you’ll find in that area. So you have your bank, you have your grocery store, your vet clinics, your fire station, courthouses. And then on the other side, would be landing. And I’m not sure where that came from, but we have a ship in the cave over there. And then different exhibits as well.
Mike Landess: This is quite a treasure for us here in this area. What can we look forward to in the future over the next few years as you start planning ahead? We talked about footprint again, but also in terms of how you would like to grow this with the community itself. Particularly with the resurgence or revitalization of downtown.
Tammy Urias: Yes, sir. Just like I said, to keep it relevant and try to maintain those partnerships that we’ve had in the past and rejuvenate some of the ones that have gone lax with the organizations and businesses, so we can continue to offer new exhibits and revitalize them. We have the energy coming next year and we have lots of dreams and goals as far as expanding, maybe going up. We would love to have a big T-Rex out in the parking lot that would overlook downtown. That’s like a vision that I have in my head. I think the kids would love that. We’d love to bring in a little playground in the area. We have trouble with parking right now, so that’s one of our main concerns. They have to use the chamber parking lots. Field trips have gone crazy, so our parking lot’s constantly full. But that’s a good thing. So parking is probably another thing that we need to look into.
Mike Landess: It’s a pleasant problem.
Tammy Urias: It is in that way.
Mike Landess: I’m thinking about the T-Rex overlooking downtown. I’m thinking about the classic Red Pegasus over downtown Dallas. We certainly could have our own T-Rex downtown.
Tammy Urias: We could. I would love that.
Mike Landess: Our guest has been Discovery Science Place Development Director Tammy Urias. For more information about this Tyler gem, you’ll find a link on our website, KVUT.org. You’ll also find this interview to hear again or to share. I’m Mike Landess for UT Tyler Radio.
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