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If you’re a past visitor to the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock's River Market district, you won’t recognize the place.

During the past year, the facility was gutted and redone from top to bottom. Even the front door is in a new location. The result is three new galleries containing 85 entertaining and interactive exhibits for all ages.

In addition to the redesign, the focus of the museum is expanding as well.

The new entrance opens on the Great Hall where A Helix Wave, a kinetic sculpture with undulating wooden planks powered by giant piano strings, hangs overhead.

This area is for receptions, weddings, gatherings and special events such as Science After Dark. A full kitchen is just off the hall for catering. The whole facility has WiFi.

Three new areas of exploration are:

  • Amazing You, dealing with the human body
  • Discovery Hall, where physics, engineering and math are investigated
  • Earth Journeys, which examines global earth processes and extreme weather

The Science Museum of Minnesota worked with the museum to design the three-gallery format, select the exhibits and to develop interpretive signs. Visitors can learn about Amazing Airways, figure out how to build things in the Tinkering Studio, play with a puzzle of the Arkansas River, visit the Extreme Weather Station and view a huge topographic map of Arkansas.

New to the museum is Tornado Alley where visitors can ride out the 1999 twister that hit Little Rock while listening to memories of those who experienced it.

The Room to Grow area gets a facelift. The theater has been relocated to accommodate larger audiences.

Eighteen live animal habitats on the museum floor include ferrets, birds, spiders, snakes, owls, and flying squirrels.

The Window of Wonder (WOW) Gallery will house traveling exhibits. The first, which can be seen when the museum reopens, is Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas. The massive exhibit, custom-built by New York's American Museum of Natural History, spans 1,500 square feet and includes seven interactive stations that focus on how dinosaurs lived, maneuvered, defended themselves, and how they eventually became extinct.

Future traveling exhibits include Extreme Deep (Apr. 28-Jul. 29), Design Zone (Aug. 11-Dec. 2), and Grossology (Dec. 15-May 26, 2013).

A calendar of events is already scheduled including African Rhythms and Music in Nature (Feb. 16-18), Sport Science (Mar. 8-10), the State Science Fair (Mar. 31), Nano Days (April 26-28), Bug Out (May 10-12) and Summer Fun Extravaganza (Jun. 14-16).

And be sure to stop at the museum's new Explore Store, offering inventive items that are both educational and fun.

Click here or phone (501) 396-7050 for more information.