Virginia Living Museum
Encyclopedia
The Virginia Living Museum is an open air museum
located in Newport News
, Virginia
that has many living exhibits of Virginia's indigenous species. The exhibits include aspects of an aquarium, science center, aviary, botanical preserve and planetarium.
and the Warwick Rotary Club. In 1976, the facility was expanded and a new focus on physical and applied sciences was added to the existing natural sciences; at this time it was renamed the Peninsula Nature and Science Center.
The museum began its transformation to a "living museum", incorporating living exhibits and preservation land together with traditional exhibits, in 1983, following the example of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
. It reopened as the Virginia Living Museum in 1987 under Virginia governor Gerald L. Baliles
. The museum expanded throughout the 1990s, opening the Coastal Plain Aviary in 2001 and a 62000 square feet (5,760 m²) museum building in 2004.
, the Piedmont
, an Appalachian Mountain cove
, a cypress swamp, and underground, as well as a gallery of nocturnal life.
Outdoors, the museum features a 5500 square feet (511 m²) aviary
, a butterfly garden
, and a 3/4 mile boardwalk with animals living in their natural habitats, including bobcat
s, river otters, pelican
s, and red wolves
.
Open air museum
An open-air museum is a distinct type of museum exhibiting its collections out-of-doors. The first open-air museums were established in Scandinavia towards the end of the nineteenth century, and the concept soon spread throughout Europe and North America. Open-air museums are variously known as...
located in Newport News
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
that has many living exhibits of Virginia's indigenous species. The exhibits include aspects of an aquarium, science center, aviary, botanical preserve and planetarium.
History
The first incarnation of what is now the Virginia Living Museum was the Junior Nature Museum and Planetarium, opened in 1966 under Virginia Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr. and cofounded by the Junior League of Hampton RoadsHampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
and the Warwick Rotary Club. In 1976, the facility was expanded and a new focus on physical and applied sciences was added to the existing natural sciences; at this time it was renamed the Peninsula Nature and Science Center.
The museum began its transformation to a "living museum", incorporating living exhibits and preservation land together with traditional exhibits, in 1983, following the example of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a museum and zoo founded in 1952 and located in Tucson, Arizona. It contains a museum and two miles of walking paths on of this property, and is one of the most visited attractions in Tucson...
. It reopened as the Virginia Living Museum in 1987 under Virginia governor Gerald L. Baliles
Gerald L. Baliles
Gerald L. Baliles was the 65th Governor of Virginia and is the director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia...
. The museum expanded throughout the 1990s, opening the Coastal Plain Aviary in 2001 and a 62000 square feet (5,760 m²) museum building in 2004.
Exhibits
The main building features animals living in several exhibits that depict the many environments of Virginia, including the coastal plainAtlantic Coastal Plain
The Atlantic coastal plain has both low elevation and low relief, but it is also a relatively flat landform extending from the New York Bight southward to a Georgia/Florida section of the Eastern Continental Divide, which demarcates the plain from the ACF River Basin in the Gulf Coastal Plain to...
, the Piedmont
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
, an Appalachian Mountain cove
Cove (Appalachian Mountains)
In the central and southern Appalachian Mountains of Eastern North America, a cove is a small valley between two ridge lines that is closed at one or both ends....
, a cypress swamp, and underground, as well as a gallery of nocturnal life.
Outdoors, the museum features a 5500 square feet (511 m²) aviary
Aviary
An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds. Unlike cages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flight cages...
, a butterfly garden
Butterfly Garden
Butterfly Garden is a life simulation game by independent developer Autonomous Productions, revolving around the raising and collecting of butterflies. Initially for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade, the developers have promised there will be a PC version and WiiWare version...
, and a 3/4 mile boardwalk with animals living in their natural habitats, including bobcat
Bobcat
The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...
s, river otters, pelican
Pelican
A pelican, derived from the Greek word πελεκυς pelekys is a large water bird with a large throat pouch, belonging to the bird family Pelecanidae....
s, and red wolves
Red Wolf
The red wolf is a North American canid which once roamed throughout the Southeastern United States and is a glacial period survivor of the Late Pleistocene epoch...
.