"Soft Opening" at the California Academy of Sciences

A view of a prehistoric predator in a yet unfinished portion of the Cal Academy of Sciences


Last Sunday, September 14th, my husband and I attended the soft opening of the newly rennovated California Academy of Sciences. I'd always gone to the museum as a child and relished its diversity of subject matter: gemology, insects, prehistoric humans, aqueous life, dinosaurs, planetary bodies, etc. My husband took my continuous praise of the place during its rennovation and surprised me with a year's membership. So via BART and the zippy N-Judah/La Playa/Ocean line, off we were to Golden Gate Park. (On a side note, can I just add that the SF rail system makes SJ Light Rail look like a lumbering dinosaur? The efficiency difference is just ridiculous, although I imagine that some of it has to do with Muni's sometime subterranean, sometimes ground level trackwork). In any case, thank you SF transit for getting us there on time (oh, for the Muni being free on Sunday mornings. Much appreciated!).







So we strolled into Golden Gate Park, watching the deadlocked line of cars heading down to the parking structure as we passed (it was so full, you had wait until a car came out to get in), and joined the line for the museum. We had a 12:00 reservation and were let inside promptly. Our first destination: the African Collection. As a kid, I adored this room. The piece de resistance was the gathering of African desert wildlife at the opposite end of the hall: zebras, lions, other fauna, all under expert lighting. You could sit on a bench and hear the growling of lions, the chirping of insects, etc. The lights would slowly come up, signifying morning, then transform into the blazing heat of midday. In a few minutes, the lights would fade, leaving the creatures in the darkness of night. I would sit there for ages, watching the lights come up and down, because it somehow became magical. It was as if the animals were going to come to life and spring out of their area. I also enjoyed the dioramas on the sides of the room, because I could read about different creatures throughout Africa.


A partial view of the desert African animals--the original scene is now off to the right, and the lights remained fixed.

Now, the room retained much of its original inhabitants and charm, but the former centerpiece was now moved to the right to make way for the hall's new inhabitants: South African Penguins! And while I might have appreciated another reflection on the night/day scene, the penguins certainly gave the room a new sense of dynamism.

As for the other exhibits, we found that some were simply not ready for viewing. The multilevel rainforest area, for example, was closed off, and the Planetarium was not providing shows that day. In addition, I noticed that the alligator area near the main entrance only contained one single white alligator, and none of the previously green inhabitants. In further exhibit halls, many of the more theatrically lit or staged exhibits had been replaced by stark, functionalistic metal frameworks with flat informational blurbs and photographs affixed. The information seemed far more static than previously. In addition, I found there to be a great many areas of information missing. For example:

• The exhibit on prehistoric humans




• The main science area, which previously housed a 1906 earthquake simulator, the giant pendulum (which thankfully is still there!), and a giant microscope with an eye looking down at you




• The gemstone collection




• The insect collection




• The dinosaur area--aside from one skeleton, we only saw a roped off area with some stands and a large mess of rubbish on the floor. It seemed very odd.




• The sea lions were gone, and the hands on tide pool had been emptied, although it looked as if the tide pool would be restored.




• The area with the elephant seal replicas and calls was gone.

On a happier note, the aquarium area was certainly more visually stimulating--the walls had been redesigned to simulate waves, and media played across the walls as audio was piped in overhead. It certainly made the scene a flurry of activity. Also, I really enjoyed the concept and education of the new "living roof," which offered gorgeous views of the surrounding areas while allowing the museum to vent off heat from the inside. The array of plants and the surrounding hillsides made for a pleasant experience.

Part of the new Living Roof

I think that the question resounding in my mind as I took in the new Academy and all of its exhibits, was why the need for paring down? Did the old one simply seem dated? Was it not completely earthquake retrofitted, or was it just not "green" enough? Wasn't there something to be said for looking down at multiple alligators in the swamp area and feeling the heat rise up? Didn't the subdued lighting of the prehistoric areas, and the red of the volcanoes make it more interesting? What has been lost here? Can it really be articulated?

I gladly filled out a survey after visiting the museum. I do hope that they plan to reincorporate more of the previous material, because it seemed as if a great deal was missing.