The Discovery Center is a

children's museum Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums feat ...

, nature center and wetlands boardwalk near downtown

Murfreesboro, Tennessee Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...

. Exhibits include themed exploration areas for town life, science, trains, cars, a fire engine and farmers market. There are live animals on display, an outdoor nature play area, and trails through the wetlands.

History

The Discovery Center began as the "Discovery House", a children's museum, in 1986. During its first year of operation it had 11,000 visitors. In 1995 after it outgrew its old location the Discovery House staff, Congressman

Bart Gordon Barton Jennings Gordon (born January 24, 1949) is an American politician and former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1985 until 2011. The district includes several rural areas and fast-growing suburbs east of Nashville. He was Chairman of ...

and Murfreesboro Mayor Joe Jackson, with the help of the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

, began to study the possibility of reusing the vacated site of the old Murfreesboro Water & Sewer Plant. After several years it was decided that, for environmental reasons, the old structures should be demolished and new buildings built. In 1996 the City of Murfreesboro leased 6

acres The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ya ...

of city land to the Discovery House. The Board of Directors, with the help of local citizens, was able to procure a large amount of privately donated wetlands. They then began a grassroots funding campaign to raise the money needed for the 'Discovery Center". By 1999 $1.8 million had been raised and the construction of the center began in 2001. Its grand opening was held August 3, 2002. As well as its museum the Discovery Center includes of

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

. The Discovery Center and the City's Greenway trail system and parks have reversed decades of local environmental damage and preserved large areas of vanishing wetlands and natural areas which include rare native plants. The Discovery Center marsh contains the state's largest population of sessile water-speedwell. Today the Center receives over 130,000 visitors annually.

References

External links

* Buildings and structures in Murfreesboro, Tennessee Children's museums in Tennessee Museums in Rutherford County, Tennessee Nature centers in Tennessee Protected areas of Rutherford County, Tennessee 2002 establishments in Tennessee Museums established in 2002 {{Tennessee-museum-stub