Exhibit ABCs: Discovery World on Market displays arrive
Tres Ross, left, chairman of the board for Discovery World on Market, talked with Torie Jackson, WVU Parkersburg interim president in costume as Discovery World mascot Izzy, Monday morning on the first floor of the museum, where exhibits are being installed. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
A crew from Roto unloaded pieces of exhibits Monday morning at Discovery World on Market at Ninth and Market streets in Parkersburg. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Jamie Jones, with Jones Interiors, unrolled graphics he’s helping to install for designer Roto Monday at Discovery World on Market in downtown Parkersburg. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Roto exhibit designer Gabriela Avila, left, posed for a photo with Torie Jackson in costume as Izzy, the Discovery World on Market mascot Avila designed, Monday morning as Roto delivered exhibits to the interactive children’s museum in downtown Parkersburg. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Representatives and subcontractors with Roto of Dublin, Ohio, delivered exhibits Monday to Discovery World on Market in downtown Parkersburg and began installing them ahead of the interactive children’s museum’s planned March opening. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Tres Ross, left, chairman of the board for Discovery World on Market, talked with Torie Jackson, WVU Parkersburg interim president in costume as Discovery World mascot Izzy, Monday morning on the first floor of the museum, where exhibits are being installed. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
A crew from Roto unloaded pieces of exhibits Monday morning at Discovery World on Market at Ninth and Market streets in Parkersburg. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Jamie Jones, with Jones Interiors, unrolled graphics he’s helping to install for designer Roto Monday at Discovery World on Market in downtown Parkersburg. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Roto exhibit designer Gabriela Avila, left, posed for a photo with Torie Jackson in costume as Izzy, the Discovery World on Market mascot Avila designed, Monday morning as Roto delivered exhibits to the interactive children’s museum in downtown Parkersburg. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
Representatives and subcontractors with Roto of Dublin, Ohio, delivered exhibits Monday to Discovery World on Market in downtown Parkersburg and began installing them ahead of the interactive children’s museum’s planned March opening. (Photo by Evan Bevins)
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PARKERSBURG -- With about two months to go until it opens to the community, Discovery World on Market welcomed the arrival of educational play exhibits Monday morning.
"I'm excited to see everything coming together on this project," said Tres Ross, chairman of the board for the interactive children's museum at 900 Market St. in Parkersburg, in a press release. "I'm looking forward to the opening in March and hope the community is as excited as we are."
The exhibits are focused on S.T.E.A.M. (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) and intended to enhance learning for children ages 0 to 8. Exhibit galleries include the River Adventure, Ball Factory and Design Studio.
Wendy Shriver, executive director for Discovery World, said she and Ross were "like two big kids standing out there" Monday morning as a tractor-trailer rig delivered the exhibits.
"I had two alarms set this morning," she said with a laugh.
The exhibits were designed and built by Roto out of Dublin, Ohio. Roto personnel were on hand to unload the equipment and will reassemble it over the next six to seven weeks.
Among them was exhibit designer Gabriela Avila, who also designed the museum's mascot Izzy. Avila was surprised and delighted to see the character come to life in the form of Torie Jackson, West Virginia University at Parkersburg's interim president, who arrived in costume to celebrate the exhibits' arrival.
"It's hilarious. I love it," said Avila, adding that she made Izzy to represent girls' interest in S.T.E.A.M. and the character is "bold" and "zany."
Plans to convert the former Masonic Temple at Ninth and Market streets into a children's museum were announced in the fall of 2019, and Ross said the first planning meeting was held in February 2020. The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic caused some delays, but work continued behind the scenes, with the master plan finished in fall 2020 before building renovations began in May 2021, he said.
Shriver said many people in and around Parkersburg have traveled to interactive children's museums like Discovery World. Now it's expected that folks from other areas will come to Discovery World.
"It's a huge destination for families," Shriver said.
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.