Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 15, 1991 TAG: 9104150312
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE LENGTH: Short
The museum, in a city-donated school built in 1928, was to receive $1.6 million in state funds; however because of the state budget crisis, it received only $300,000 for emergency building repairs.
The museum also received a few foundation grants. With that officials were able to put together six new exhibits, using a few pieces from old ones.
The museum's main exhibit is "Buried Treasures: Caves of the Virginias." It features a life-size, 8-foot sloth - a hairy creature that lived in Virginia during the Ice Age. The exhibit also includes a giant bat head emitting high-frequency sounds. Below the head are displays explaining how bats fly in the dark as well as lore about vampires.
Other exhibits include wildlife photography by Lynda Richardson, a traveling art exhibit from Houston on endangered species and an "Age of Reptiles" room, complete with model dinosaurs and actual dinosaur tracks found in Culpeper.
The museum also obtained a Bioscanner, a video camera with a zoom lens that allows viewers to get an up-close look at creatures on a 32-inch color monitor.
Opened in June 1985 as a private venture, the museum became a state agency in July 1988.
by CNB