feature article - june 2008

Schooner Denis Sullivan returns, Segway relocates
and three new exhibits open at Discovery World

DISCOVERY WORLD sails into its third summer on Milwaukee's lakefront this month with billowing sails - its signature Great Lakes schooner returns, a popular Milwaukee tour program relocates at the museum and the final touches are applied to three distinctive new exhibits.

The official "homecoming" for the sailing vessel Denis Sullivan is set for 3 p.m. June 7. The program includes live music, children's activities and facility and deck tours of the authentic replica of an 1800s Great Lakes schooner. Deck tours and day sails on the Denis Sullivan will continue through Sept. 14.

Visitors to the museum at 500 N. Harbor Dr. between the Summerfest grounds and the Milwaukee Art Museum also will find a new activity and three new exhibits:

- Segway of Milwaukee, a popular tour program formerly based in the Historic Third Ward, is now based at Discovery World. Officials see the guided tours, using the unique personal transportation devices, as a perfect complement to the science and technology thrust of Discovery World.

- "Les Paul's House of Sound," a tribute to the accomplishments of Wisconsin guitarist Les Paul, opens June 21. The exhibit will feature personal items from the collection of the musician who created the first solid-body electric guitar and was a pioneer in early recording techniques. Paul will be on hand to open the interactive exhibit.

Also scheduled to open late in June or early in July are new interactive exhibits created by two of Milwaukee's leading corporations:

- Briggs & Stratton's "Milwaukee Muscle" will offer visitors a chance to design a vehicle of the future called Vehicle 2020. Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, Wauwatosa-based Briggs & Stratton is the world's largest producer of gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment and North America's number one manufacturer of portable generators.

- "Energy & Ingenuity: Harnessing the Power of You" is a new exhibit sponsored by Wisconsin Energy Foundation. It will challenge visitors to consider new energy sources for the future. Featured in the exhibit will be an Energy Opportunity Lab, focusing on green practices, sustainable building and design and wise energy use. The exhibit also will have a "visitor controlled" nuclear reactor model, as well as working demonstrations of alternative energy sources such as wind turbines and photovoltaic panels located outside the museum and feeding data to the exhibit area.

Continuing exhibits at Discovery World include "TechnoJungle: The Hunt for the Next Great Idea" exhibit sponsored by Johnson Controls, Inc.; Rockwell Automation's "Dream Machine"; the Great Lakes Future exhibit sponsored by the Helen Bader Foundation, and the HIVE, a virtual-reality chamber that envelopes visitors in computer-generated visuals. The HIVE was developed in collaboration with Milwaukee Area Technical College.

In addition, the Reiman Aquariums allow visitors to walk through salt- and fresh-water tanks, observing fish and other creatures of the Great Lakes, Atlantic Coast and Florida Keys.

Discovery World is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. For information on the Denis Sullivan homecoming, specific exhibit opening dates and other programs available at Discovery World, visit www.discoveryworld.com.