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Inside the new Delaware Museum of Nature and Science
Inside the new Inside the new Delaware Museum of Delaware Museum of Delaware Museum of Nature and Science Nature and Science Nature and Science
Photo courtesy of the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science
Throughout the newly remodeled Delaware Museum of Nature & Science, visitors are invited to touch and explore many exhibits.
Photo courtesy of the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science
Opening items in the Discovery Gallery include an interactive robot from First State Robotics and interactive wave tank from the University of Delaware’s Center for Applied Coastal Research.
Photo courtesy of the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science/Teresa Bonaddio
This skull came from a whale that beached several years ago in Delaware.
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Photo courtesy of the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science/Teresa Bonaddio
The Delaware Museum of Nature & Science opened earlier this year with a new name and focus.
By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer
Is it open yet?”“
Benjamin Parker, a 3½-year-old from Kennett Square, had been asking that a lot as he and his mother drove along Kennett Pike near Greenville. He was referring to the new Delaware Museum of Nature and Science, and in
May, he and his family were among the first to experience the 17-month, $10.8 million renovation of the old natural history museum.
“It’s more interactive, kid-friendly, realistic and highly educational,” said his mother, Alysha Parker, who visited the museum weekly with her mother when she was growing up.
“It’s like the whole world is open,” said Alysha’s mother, Carolyn Isakoff, also of Kennett Square.
The museum’s major wings focus on Delaware-area and iconic global ecosystems, with exhibits to touch and manipulate, live animals to observe, taxidermied and preserved creatures to look at, lifelike replicas to inspire, tunnels to go through, drawers to open, videos to watch and ambient sounds and evocative lighting to teleport visitors to these environments.
The Discovery Gallery in the museum’s core showcases short-term, hands-on exhibits, with the opening material from the museum, the Delaware Mineralogical Society,
Delaware Museum of Nature and Science
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First State Robotics and the University of Delaware’s Center for Applied Coastal Research.
“We want people to explore,” Cathy Perrotto, the museum’s public engagement manager, said in an interview from the Discovery Gallery. “We don’t give them the answer.”
Can visitors match the mineral to the refined product? Can they recognize the classic six simple machines in a modern and complex robotic hand? “It’s very hands-on,” Perrotto said, noting it’s geared to ages 8 and above – including adults with childlike curiosities.
What visitors will see, feel and hear
Visitor Ari Wiebke, a 15-year-old from Hockessin, interviewed while generating waves in a Discovery Gallery tank, said the creatures preserved in jars were her favorite features. “It was fascinating to learn about the process to preserve them,” she said.
“I’m most excited about introducing people to animals and environments that they may have never seen before – tiny snails in a local cypress swamp, deep-sea squat lobsters or even a capybara in the rainforest!” said Liz Shea, the museum’s director of collections and curator of mollusks.
“We’ve completely shed that dusty, old museum perception,” Executive Director Halsey Spruance said. “Our focus is on what we know about nature and science, why it matters to us and what we can do to protect the environment.”
The museum was founded in 1957 and opened in 1972. The building is 72,000 square feet, with 27,000 square feet for exhibits and the same amount for research. The remainder of the facility is used for museum operations.
Some favorites have been retained, including the giant squid suspended over the entrance (now chasing a school of orange roughy) and the walk-over hallway coral reef
Photo courtesy of the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science
Visitors are encouraged to crawl through tunnels and pause under bubbles for different perspectives.
Photo courtesy of the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science
The walk-over coral reef is a visitor favorite that has been enhanced for a more immersive experience.
(with repainted features and enhanced with wall and floor murals). The reef, which generated the most questions about its future, has a unexpected use in training service dogs to gain confidence walking over transparent flooring.
The rethink is sensitive to visitors with varying needs, including access for those in wheelchairs, a quiet nook for nursing mothers and those facing sensory overload, closed captioning for people with hearing issues and layered text for different reading levels.
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Delaware Museum of Nature and Science
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Photo courtesy of the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science/Teresa Bonaddio
A fi eld station in the Regional Gallery will regularly host activities.
The details behind the scenes
The project also included work on lighting, sound, heating, cooling, fire suppression, paving and restrooms. Space has been made for sandwiches, wraps and other refreshments from Jamestown Catering. Outdoors, work has focused on recovery from the 2021 tornado.
Renovations involved experts near and far. A whale skull was prepared by Whales and Nails, of Maine. Dixon Studios of Arizona made the landscapes, based on samples of dirt, leaves and other items that museum staffers gathered from across Delaware. At-Mar Glass of Kennett Square hand-blew 23 customized glass jars for specimens. KubikMaltbie of South Jersey fabricated exhibits. JacobsWyper of Philadelphia was the architect, and Bancroft Construction of Wilmington served as the general contractor.
On opening weekend, New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer said he planned to propose a $500,000 grant for the museum. “We have some federal resources to address some of the inequities that we’ve seen in the past couple of years,” TownSquareDelaware reported him saying. “We share the vision of the leadership of this museum to see that the people going into this museum look like the people of our county look like.”
Throughout the museum, visitors can now look down (there’s an impressively large floor map of Delaware) at different levels of exhibits (can you find the bottle cap befouling the beach?) and up (one enormous ceilingmounted addition is the skull of a whale that beached in Kent County in 2017). They should not, however, climb the trees. It is permissible, however, to feel the bark and try to
spot the half-hidden creatures.
Museum staffers will monitor visitor interest as they develop activities, and there are plans to create audio tours, probably via visitors’ smartphones.
“They have great family events,” said Tina Nuse of Unionville, who is sending daughter Samantha to summer camp there for the first time this year.
And dinosaurs, of course
The Regional Journey Gallery features five local ecosystems, plus space for interactivity. In the other wing, the PaleoZone goes back millions of years to when Delaware was underwater, featuring the fearsome dryptosaurus, the flying “bat lizard” nyctosaur and the aquatic giant mosasaur.
Dryptosaurus, thanks to work from students at ShueMedill Middle and Rep. Paul Baumbach, was nominated as Delaware’s official dinosaur. Bones from only two types of dinosaurs have been found in Delaware: dryptosaurus and what is most likely a hadrosaurus that’s New Jersey’s state dinosaur.
The Global Journey Gallery highlights the Arctic tundra, the African savanna and the tropical rainforest. Three more areas cover the ocean: shallows, midwater and deep sea.
“On the global side, I think the deep-sea dive into the Atlantic canyons will be popular,” said Shea. “It’s an immersive experience that uses real footage and real specimens to explore the ocean. On the Delaware side, I’m excited that we have a whole exhibit about the red knot and how important it is for them to feed on horseshoe crab eggs in the Delaware Bay.”
Three interactive touring exhibitions have been booked, starting in 2023. They are “Be the Astronaut,” originally set for 2020; “Mindbender Mansion,” brainteasers from the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry; and “Permian Monsters: Life Before the Dinosaurs.”
In the entrance to the Discovery Gallery, there’s a prominent quote from DuPont Co. chemist Stephanie Kwolek: “All sorts of things can happen when you’re open to new ideas.”
The Delaware Museum of Nature and Science is open 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily. Admission is $12.95 for ages 3 and up, $3.95 for ages 1-2 and free under 1, with a $1 discount for tickets purchased in advance online. Admission is free for museum members. For the first year, members of Delaware Art Museum, Hagley, Mt. Cuba, Tyler Arboretum and Winterthur also receive free general admission. Details: https://delmns.org.
Changing Landscape in Senior Living Options… Senior Livings Adapting to Future Needs
Senior Housing has become a leading sector for real estate development, and the industry is expected to only become stronger over the next decade. An aging population and longer life expectancy is boosting the demand for expansion of senior living options. Developing high-quality, desirable senior living communities is not just about an attractive place to live; it’s about creating space where people feel safe, supported, connected and cared for. Selecting strategic geographic locations that enable seniors to engage in the surrounding community and experience amenities outside their walls is also becoming key to a successful community. Site selection plays a key role in a successful senior living.
Frank DeMarinis, Leisure Care General Manager (The Vero) When deciding on development opportunities thought was made to not only what senior trends are on a high level but the needs of the local market. Newark downtown is a very attractive and desirable living space, however, seniors often cannot find available housing such as ranch homes or single homes of manageable size and accessibility at reasonable cost. They want to be part of the epicenter but have limited options in a development market heavily focused on townhome and student housing. Our location is integral to local restaurants and shopping as well as life outside the community living space. We are finding seniors in this market also have appreciation for higher level activities and our locality to the University and programs such as Osher Lifelong Learning.
According to the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF) 60% of the existing communities are 17-plus years old and not designed to meet customers’ needs. Most senior living communities are 20-plus years old (58%), while only 14.5% are less than five years old. Many older senior living communities were built without the ability to update technology, health, safety or mobility infrastructure, along with smaller units and less of an emphasis on community spaces. New communities are integrating a more hospitality-centered design to facilitate ease of living and social connections, as well as a sense of community among residents and integrate a more hospitality-centered design to facilitate ease of living and social connections, as well as a sense of community among residents.
A growing retirement population and lack of inventory presents opportunities but also challenges due to a new wave of seniors being more selective and discriminating in the services they need and embrace. The baby boomer generation often referred to as the next “wave”. Today the eldest of the group are now 75 and within 10 years even the youngest of that cohort will be at least 65.
Terri Doody, Leisure Care (The Vero) Having worked in the local senior living industry these past 10 years I can attest there is a strong need for new communities. The senior living options are aging more rapidly then the populations they serve. We are in the market of establishing true “communities” not a “facility”
Senior housing generally services those over 75 years and is typically divided into four categories: independent living, assisted living, memory care and nursing care.
A previous model of prevalence has been the Continuing Care Retirement Community Model (CCRC) offering a range of independent living to intermediate care often on a combined campus. Though historically a popular model some challenges include having to physically move one’s residence as their need(s) increase as well as sometimes having to “buy in” defined as a sizeable community fee in addition to monthly rent.
Frank DeMarinis, Leisure Care General Manager (The Vero) Having a community with multiple care types available requires an in-depth licensing process. As a brand we offer a more modern approach having an integrated living space for both independent living and assisted living allowing residents to age in place without having to physically move as their needs increase. We license the entire community so that we do not have to further disrupt a resident rather dispatch medical staff to where they are needed.
We incorporate hospitality, multifamily and health care all in one. Hospitality services include transportation, housekeeping, entertainment, dining options and other amenities. The multifamily component is focused on a homelike setting and if needed can provide care services such as assistance with bathing, eating and other activities.
The senior living sector was challenged during the COVID-19 pandemic with decreasing occupancy, negative press and increased expense. Some communities went into lockdown mode, allowing only essential team members in the building and implementing quarantine protocols for new residents and any resident having left the building. During the pandemic, “needs-based” residents moved in at a steadier pace in comparison to independent living seniors that do not need as much care. Post pandemic we are again seeing the trend move toward residents moving not for necessity alone but social needs, hospitality and lifestyle.
The greatest current and future demand trend for a truly successful community is the High Demand for Direct Care Workers. The senior living industry is already feeling the effects of not having enough direct care workers to provide care to the growing number of seniors.
Frank DeMarinis, Leisure Care General Manager (The Vero) Even before covid we were seeing trendsetters like Amazon raising the bar for the workforce. A paradigm change was already in works for “living wage” over minimum wage. The antiquated model of high priced living options serviced by one of the lower average wages per sector of non skilled workforce required a shift. Leading operators recognize “you get what you pay for” and competitive wages not only ensure a consistent skilled workforce but a strong product. I am proud we offer a leading wage to our workforce ensuring the best talent. Our proximity and partnership to the University of Delaware not only is a benefit to Seniors but tapping into educated and ambitious labor force with a desire to grow. As we continue to partner with the University our goal is to give back to the community at large offering internships, educational opportunities and vocational mentorship. Our culinary program offers hospitality opportunities and our wellness program a focus for Health Sciences.
