Discovery Place

Educational programs, experiences and exhibits: Discovery Place, Inc. Operates four museums serving over 623,483 guests annually including nearly 69,136 through an economic accessibility program called the welcome program. Significant progress was made on two capital facilities projects in fiscal year 2024: groundbreaking and construction began for the new Discovery Place nature facility scheduled to open in mid/late 2026. Additionally, Discovery Place invested in a significant renovation and upgrade of Discovery Place kids rockingham which was completed in spring of 2024. We recognized restricted contribution revenues related to the future construction of Discovery Place nature and renovation of Discovery Place kids rockingham and incurred incremental expenses to support the development efforts of capital facilities projects. These activities are reflected in the overall revenue and support. Marvel: universe of superheros: 64,858discovery Place opened marvel: universe of superheroes in may 2023. This is the first large scale traveling blockbuster exhibition hosted since 2018. In fiscal year 2024 we hosted this exhibition from july through january 2024. During this time we welcomed over 64,858 visitors to this show featuring original art, costumes, and artifacts from the marvel universe. Imax: 55,326in fiscal 2024, Discovery Place operated the accenture imax dome theater featuring imax laser projection, a 12-channel sound system, and digistar 7 planetarium solution. This year the attendance more than doubled. The programming included first-run hollywood films, documentaries, and alternative content such as mesmerica. We continued to see these offerings attract new audiences, especially adults.outreach/youth development/summer camps/workshops: outreach and the digital studio programming served over 22,433 students in fiscal 2024. Beyond school day programs, this was a strong year with multiple afterschool contracts allowing us to serve youth in our community with stem hands-on learning over multiple visits, which provides a deeper dive for students. Youth development programming in fiscal 2024 included several programs targeting youth in middle - high school. The stem apprentice program was able to onboard 273 volunteers to assist with camp and museum programming, including 4 mayors youth employment interns. Girls day out successfully served 230 female students over 8 engagements through on-site programming focused on careers in stem. Girls in stem hosted 7 high school girls and built several robotic projects. The stem pathways internship recruited 18 high school students while providing life skills and on-site work experience in our museums. Youth development served over 530 students during fy24.in fiscal 2024 we completed our third year of programming funded by the lego foundation. Our Discovery through design initiative included the formation of a community of practice, supporting not only Discovery Place experience and operations team members but also community partners from greater enrichment program of charlotte and ourbridge for children. Over the course of the year, program participants received deep training on how to incorporate learning through play into our work. Through this grant 175,121 youth were served and 174,817 adults with our community partners and visitors to Discovery Place museums.summer camps served 5,200 children across three Discovery Place locations - science, nature and kids. It was another successful season of learning with weekly themes for children in prek-8th grade. Adult programming: 13,455in fiscal 2024, Discovery Place hosted science on the rocks and added several new programs including macabre masquarade, the speakeasy, and science studios. These programs are designed for 21+. Science on the rocks is an evening program which features access to museum exhibits, hands-on science experiences, live shows, live music, imax offerings, workshops, food and beverage and more. Macabre masquarade and the speakeasy were two new large scale events featuring decorations, costume contests, themed activities and talent such as aerialists and chef cooking demonstrations, and more. Science studios are designed to highlight topical areas of interest such as space exploration, food, wellness, and more. Together these events have allowed us to reach new adult audiences and expand our capacity to reach different audience segments through diversification of our offerings.discovery Place kids special programming : 1,381in addition to our daily programming, both Discovery Place kids hosted some of our signature events. These events include, countdown to kindergarten and noon years eve. Countdown to the kindergarten is a kinderrgarten readiness event that occurs in partnership with our local school systems. Its great opportunity for our rising kindergarteners to meet their teachers and see a familiar face on the first day of school. Both Discovery Place kids locations were able to serve over 675 guests. Discovery Place kid-huntersville continued their science themed halloween event called ghouly gala. In fy24 event served 145 guests. Discovery Place kid-huntersville also launched a new literacy themed event called storybook ball. This inaugural event served 561 guests.