Successful exhibit comes to an end on Sunday

After 65 million years, the dinosaurs made a return to Downtown Mobile, and now, sadly, it’s time for them to go again. The Gulf Coast Exploreum’s successful traveling exhibition, Dinosaurs Downtown, closes this Sunday. As of today, nearly 85,000 individuals have visited the 12 animatronic dinosaurs.

The dinosaurs will be loaded onto two 18-wheel trucks on Monday morning and shipped back to Billings Productions’ warehouse in McKinney, Texas. Downtown Mobile will, no doubt, be sad to see them go.

Success stories of the exhibition include:

• Traveling exhibit opening weekend record of 4,005 guests
• Monthly membership purchase record in January with 324 new or renewed memberships
• A total of 1,088 new or renewed memberships during exhibit run
• More than 37,000 students visited the exhibit during a field trip
• 100 percent booked for dinosaur-themed birthday parties
• A total of 84,707 guests as of today; 62 percent of guests are from Mobile or Baldwin counties, while 38 percent of guests are from outside the metro area

The Exploreum will have extended hours this weekend for guests who want to say goodbye to the dinosaurs. The science center will be open until 7 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Exploreum will be open Sunday from noon - 5 p.m. In addition, the Exploreum is hosting a “Crawfish in the Courtyard” fundraiser and dinosaur bon voyage party on Thursday, April 22nd from 6-9 p.m. Presented by IberiaBank, the event will feature live entertainment, all-you-can-eat crawfish and jambalaya and more. Guests must be 21 to attend the Crawfish in the Courtyard event. Tickets are available at www.exploreum.com.

Although Dinosaurs Downtown is coming to an end, guests will want to return to the Exploreum for its upcoming exhibits. Opening May 1st is a new permanent exhibit called Explore TEC (Technology & Engineering careers). Through a $500,000 grant from NASA, Explore TEC features 24 laptops that include CAD Academy software, robotic instruction kits and a 3D printer. No other science center in the country offers this level of engineering and technology programming.

Reptile Planet will take place July 5th through Oct. 24th. The exhibit features 30 reptiles from 20 different countries. Lastly, the Exploreum announced an exhibit that will feature rescued sea lions performing educational and entertaining shows. Sea Lion Splash will take place Nov. 10th through Nov. 21st.

Family memberships are available for only $100 and include unlimited visits to the Exploreum, discounts on IMAX films, Gift Shop purchases, camps, birthday parties and more. For more information on the Gulf Coast Exploreum, visit www.exploreum.com.