In keeping with the previous post(s) of museums in the city that’ve undergone dramatic transformations, I’d like to muse on the California Academy of Sciences. Located in Golden Gate Park, the Academy sits directly across from the de Young Museum. At 157 years old, the Academy is California’s oldest museum. My first exposure to the museum was through class field trips. I think I was in third grade when I first went. I went a handful of times while in grade school, stopping when I entered middle school. I remember the whole class piling onto Muni, and traveling through the city, till we reached our destination. The first thing that struck me about the classically designed building was how tall it seemed, with its imposing columns. The second thing was the life size Tyrannosaurus rex (or T Rex-like dinosaur) skeleton that stood just inside. Standing over twenty feet, with huge teeth and claws, to a boy of eight, that was very cool indeed.
The Academy was my first exposure to the natural sciences via a museum setting. As someone who enjoys nature and animals and the natural world, I’m not sure which came first: my love of nature which was expanded upon while visiting the Academy, or the visits to the Academy that set off and inspired in me a love and curiosity about nature.
Once inside the building, we were free to visit whichever part of the museum we wanted. Because there were so many interesting exhibits, it was always hard for me to decide which to see first. The crocodile grotto, full of live crocs, as well as copper pennies thrown in for good luck, was a big attraction. Seeing these creatures, direct descendants of dinosaurs, was a thrill. As was the reptile section, full of snakes and lizards, which was just adjacent.
The African Hall never failed to captivate me. Though the various animals inside were stuffed, they still seemed so life-like to me. There were lions, leopards, buffalos, rhinos, hyenas, dik-diks, and so many more.
From there I’d go see the Pendulum, hanging by a long steel cable, swinging back and forth from the earth’s rotation, and if I were lucky, would see the large pendulum head knocking over a pin.
Steinhart aquarium was most definitely a high point. Laid out somewhat in a maze-like fashion, I remember it being quite dark, and containing a tremendous amount of species: exotic fish, tropical fish, huge fish, coral, anemones, clams, octopus, shrimp, eels, crabs. The only sea creature I don’t remember seeing were jelly fish. Laying my hand over the cold glass surface of the tanks was part of the experience. Dolphins (yes dolphins!) used to occupy the central tank, where one could sit down and watch them swim and play around, and occasionally jump out of the water as they are wont to do.
Perhaps the exhibit that tops them all was the Planetarium. The whole class would file into the domed structure, and excitedly take their seat. It was like being at the movies, but also different, for you lied back more, looking up, and the screen covered a greater area. When the show began, it felt as if one were immersed in the whole experience. It surrounded you. I suppose it was Imax pre-Imax. Seeing the planets and stars and constellations and solar systems was like traveling to another world. I always came out of the show feeling somehow very small, but at the same time enlarged.
The Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 severely damaged the Academy, like it did so many important city structures. The old Academy was demolished in 2004, and new construction of the building began in 2005. The new Academy, costing $370 million, and designed by world renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano, opened in 2008. Like the other big name cultural institutions (SF Moma, de Young, the new main library), the new Academy has received national and international media attention from the get-go. The building and architect have won prestigious prizes, for being environmentally friendly, and for its focus on ecological concerns and environmental sustainability. It received Platinum certification under the LEED program. Other unique features include a sloped “living roof” covered with native plants.
And just like it’s brethren, the new Academy has become a tourist destination; not just among the millions who live in the Bay Area, but among all tourists who travel to the city or region from outside the Bay Area. That means lines, and long lines. Just getting into the new Academy can take hours if you don’t plan it out. And once inside, there are lines to get into many of the popular exhibits, such as the Planetarium, the Rain Forest, and current exhibits. Each time I’ve gone, the place has been swamped. Viewers are lined up two, sometimes three rows back, everyone craning their neck this way and that to see inside the tank or cage. Also, its become a “scene,” with the popular “NightLife” event that happens on Thursday night. The event targets a 21+ crowd, as they enjoy music, entertainment, and cocktails, socializing and schmoozing, all within the Academy environment.
The old Academy is long long gone.
That Academy has morphed into a “super-sized” version of itself. An analogy that comes to mind is Bruce Banner morphing into the Hulk. It’s bigger, vaster, more muscular, now full of technological bells and whistles. Is it better? Based on the various ways to measure museums, without question. And if it gets people who normally wouldn’t go, and exposes them to the sciences, and to the critical environmental concerns of the day, then all for the better.
However, while I laud the new building and museum, and the acclaim and attention its received, in some ways I do long for the old Academy, with it’s more local appeal, and its more dusty and low-brow environment. Back before it was a trendy destination.
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