THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 10, 1996 TAG: 9601090091
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 151 lines
STAND EYE-TO-EYE with a crab or knee-high to a grasshopper in a macro-marsh exhibit where creatures are enlarged tenfold.
Practice your bird calls and see how closely you can mimic a heron or osprey on a computerized sound diagram.
Examine fish scales, snake skins, snail teeth and mosquito heads under a microscope.
These are some of the new, interactive attractions that await visitors of the Virginia Marine Science Museum's Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion, which is scheduled to open Thursday (but may be postponed because of weather conditions) as part of the museum's grand expansion.
While most of the expansion areas will not be complete until summer, the Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion will open as part of a ``Come Watch Us Grow'' preview program. It is the first step toward the grand opening of the $35-million expansion that ultimately will triple the size of the museum.
The 20,000-square-foot pavilion depicts the ecology and wildlife of the salt marsh habitat that surrounds the building.
Inside, visitors can experience the sights and sounds of the marsh close-up, while on the other side of the large plate-glass windows the real thing is spread out in all its natural wonderment. Outside, a boardwalk and trail system meander through the salt marsh preserve so visitors can explore the habitat in its natural state.
``This is a unique site - a virtual museum without walls that makes the Virginia Marine Science Museum like no other in the world and sets the standard for marine science facilities of the future,'' said museum director C. Mac Rawls.
Museum officials decided to highlight Owl Creek because it boasts the last undeveloped salt marsh in the southern end of Virginia. Because of its high salinity and direct link to the Atlantic Ocean, it serves as a nursery ground for many species and attracts a diverse population of wildlife.
Some of the bird species that regularly feed or nest there include pelicans, osprey, cormorants, heron and mergansers. Marine life includes river otters as well as a variety of lookdown fish, sea horses, northern barracuda and spadefish.
It is also remarkable because it has continued to thrive even though it is close to the densely developed Oceanfront area.
``Owl Creek is really a special place,'' said museum curator Maylon White. ``You can see fiddler crabs by the thousands and river otters around sunrise.''
While a main attraction of the Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion will be an indoor/outdoor river otter exhibit, it will not open this week. Construction delays have postponed the river otter opening until sometime in February.
Another major attraction at the pavilion site, an aviary, will open in the summer along with the remainder of the museum's expansion areas.
Beginning Thursday, the entrance to the museum complex will be moved to the new Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion. Signs will direct visitors to the new building and parking lot.
The Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion is situated about 1/3 mile south of the museum's core complex, which includes the original building and two additions still under construction - the Atlantic Ocean Pavilion and the 3-D IMAX Theater.
A boardwalk and trails through the marsh connect the two sites. A free tram is available for those who do not wish to walk.
Because of construction schedules and the need to renovate the main entrance of the original museum, it was necessary to temporarily route all visitors through the new building. The original museum will remain open throughout construction, however it may be necessary to close some exhibits for short periods.
When the museum complex is complete in early summer, admission will be gained through either building.
The Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion takes visitors on an educational and entertaining journey through the marsh that's just beyond its doors.
It begins with an 88-seat interactive theater that plays an originally produced salt marsh orientation video.
Then visitors enter an exhibit reminiscent of ``Alice in Wonderland'' and ``Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.'' The macro-marsh features the components of a salt marsh in larger-than-life mounted plants, animals and insects. Marsh sounds are piped through the darkened corridor.
From there, visitors wind through a micro-marsh exhibit, which focuses on life too small to be seen with the naked eye. Live specimens of other small species - including sea roaches, periwinkles and black widow spiders - can be viewed in tanks and through a magnified camera lens.
A large exhibit hall follows with numerous interactive activities that highlight the three elements of a marsh - plants, mud and water. Activities include smelling the sweet aroma of wax myrtle, sticking your fingers in mud and sand and identifying and tracking animal foot prints. This room is lined with aquariums containing plant and animal life scooped from Owl Creek marsh.
The pavilion also contains exhibits on marsh birds. Here visitors can practice bird calls, build their own bird species on a computer and examine bird feathers and skeletons.
Eventually, an observation camera will be installed outside trained on an osprey platform. The images will be beamed inside to a television monitor for a rare close up look at the nesting behavior of an endangered bird species.
While visitors cannot view live river otters yet, otter films can be seen on television monitors. Also in that section, visitors can try to distinguish between muskrats, raccoons, opossums and nutrias by feeling their furs.
The new building also features an expanded gift shop.
When the rest of the expansion areas open in the early summer, the museum will grow from 40,000 square feet to 120,000 square feet of indoor space and from nine acres to 45 acres of outdoor space.
Highlights of the other additions include a 300,000-gallon ocean aquarium, a 70,000-gallon sea turtle aquarium, a sea turtle hatching laboratory, a harbor seal pool, a six-story 3-D IMAX theater and an indoor-outdoor restaurant.
The museum, at 717 General Booth Blvd., is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission is $5.25 for adults, $4.50 for children under 12 and $4.75 for seniors. Special expansion year memberships are $40 for individuals and $60.45 for families. Admission prices will rise once the expansion is complete. MEMO: For more information or to check on the pavilion opening scheduled for
Thursday, call 425-FISH or 437-4949.
ILLUSTRATION: MORE TO EXPLORE
[Cover, Color photo]
ON THE COVER
Mac Forehand is marketing director in the macro-marsh exhibit of
the new Owls Creek Salt Marsh Pavilion. The exhibit features
larger-than-life mounted plants, animals and insects.
Staff photos, including color cover, by STEVE EARLEY
Beginning Thursday, weather permitting, the entrance to the museum
complex will be moved to the new Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion.
The 20,000-square-foot pavilion depicts the ecology and wildlife of
the salt marsh habitat that surrounds the building. A boardwalk and
trails through the marsh connect the pavilion to the museum's core
complex, about 1/3 mile apart.
Light coming in through the windows adds to the distinctive
architecture of the new salt marsh pavilion's entryway. ``This is a
unique site - a virtual museum without walls that makes the Virginia
Marine Science Museum like no other in the world and sets the
standard for marine science facilities of the future,'' said museum
director C. Mac Rawls.
ABOVE: In the macro marsh, visitors wind through an exhibit that
focuses on life too small to be seen with the naked eye. Live
specimens of other small species can be seen using a videocamera and
video screen.
LEFT: The pavilion also contains exhibits on marsh birds, such as
this majestic great blue heron. Here visitors can practice bird
calls, build their own bird species on a computer and examine bird
feathers and skeletons.
by CNB