POCOMOKE CITY, MD– The Delmarva Discovery Museum will host a grand reopening May 30 in celebration of the community support which saved it from permanently shutting down.
The Museum closed March 20 after officials launched a fundraiser in January due to rising costs.
Supporters have since donated over $170,000, enabling the Museum to continue operations while pushing for a $200,000 goal. Donations are still being accepted through the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore.
Christy Gordon with the Delmarva Discovery Museum said Friday that the fundraising total has now reached about $170,000. She said the support has allowed the museum to address repairs in its 16,000-square-foot building, including replacing flooring, fixing air conditioning issues, repainting spaces and improving safety concerns that had previously received temporary fixes.
“We were able to fix some big things, fix them correctly,” Gordon said. “It’s safer in here than it was before. It’s brighter.”
Gordon said volunteers have also spent the final days before the reopening preparing the museum for visitors, with about 15 people helping inside the building on Monday alone. The museum remained open for field trips while closed to the general public.
"What began as an ambitious vision has become a powerful reminder of what a community can accomplish together," the Museum says.
Lisa Taylor with the Pocomoke Area Chamber of Commerce said the museum’s closure was difficult for downtown businesses, especially ahead of the summer tourism season.
“The Discovery Center brings in, to eat in our shops, to shop from our shops, to browse in our stores,” Taylor said. “We get a lot of people from Chincoteague and Ocean City in the summer months that are coming primarily for the Discovery Center.”
Taylor said she was not surprised to see local support for the museum, but was struck by donations coming in from beyond the immediate area, including Virginia Beach and Baltimore.
Gordon said museum staff hope Saturday’s celebration is just the beginning of continued community involvement.
“We absolutely could not have done this without the support,” Gordon said. “It just really instilled that we matter and we’re important to this city and this community.”
The grand reopening will start with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. on May 30, followed by contests, presentations, book signings and historical reenactments taking place through 3 p.m. Officials say visitors will also see new and expanded exhibits, as well as some works-in-progress.
Gordon said some projects remain unfinished, including improvements to George the snapping turtle’s habitat. Donation boxes will be available during the reopening for visitors who want to support specific projects.
The Museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 30, with entrance fees waived for the reopening.
For more information, visit delmarvadiscoverycenter.org.
