Kirkland involved the community and invited local experts and visionaries to be involved in the project as volunteers, when it came to hiring a workforce, he pulled out all stops. We are going to give people from all around this region and beyond a reason to keep coming back to Discovery Park.”Īlthough Mr. “We are hoping to have a couple of big concerts on the lawn, we are discussing car shows, motorcycle shows, maybe even an arts and crafts fair. “We plan to have music in the park every other week throughout the summer,” Melissa said. Event Director Melissa Caldwell has big plans for Discovery Park. We think that it will take a full day, if not two to see everything we have at Discovery Park!” Rippy explained.īut, the fun doesn’t end there. “Every gallery has something extra special. Inside Discovery Center, you can see the vision of the volunteers come to life, with features like the giant human slide, the earthquake simulator, the starship theater, the tower and the list goes on. Sprinkle in four unique garden areas, a shrub lined maze, a grand pavilion sponsored by the local Rotary Club and a Great Lawn and the grounds at Discovery Park rival any garden in the world. Freedom Square, The Chapel, The Depot, The Settlement, The Barn and Mill Ridge are all free standing exhibit areas nestled among a beautiful water feature that flows through the Discovery Park grounds. This volunteer-army became the committees that are now represented by galleries, gardens and areas throughout the park.”įor example, the Yesteryear Committee, led by Charlie Grooms was instrumental in developing the areas that surround the 1 ½ mile sidewalk that winds throughout the grounds. “Over 250 people came out for a planning meeting at The Hampton Center when the project was launched. Kirkland invited the community to become involved,” said Polly Brasher, long time volunteer and now the Education Director at the park. The Discovery Park vision began with Kirkland and Rippy, but the approach to bring it to reality was quite unique. “Discovery Park is unique…there’s no place like it anywhere,” Rippy said. The 50-acre complex boasts an entertaining ‘grounds-and-garden’ experience, as well as an iconic 100,000 square foot Discovery Center featuring ten learning galleries. From the 120 foot look-out tower, providing a 360 degree view of this rural farmland, to an amazing Starship Theater where guests will ‘blast off’ into outer space to experience a realistic space voyage experience there are opportunities to play, learn and see beyond around every corner. We want people to see beyond their current level of knowledge and to have the opportunity to see and experience things at Discovery Park that they might otherwise not have.”Īnd, people will see beyond at Discovery Park. “Our tag line, ‘See Beyond” pretty much sums it up. But, learning should never be boring, so one of the goals of Discovery Park is to entertain and delight our guests, while providing information about history, science, art and the area in which we live,” Kirkland explained. “We have been blessed, and see it as a mission to bring this exceptional educational experience to this area. The reason that Discovery Park of America is sitting in the middle of a corn field in Union City, TN is because of the vision of these native Obion Countians. It’s a $100 million dollar project, offering jobs to hundreds of people for the past five years. Opening November 1, 2013, Discovery Park of America was founded by local residents Robert and Jenny Kirkland. Sitting in a cornfield in the middle of rural northwest, Tennessee is the nation’s newest attraction.
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