One of Dundee’s leading tourist attractions has unveiled a host of new exhibits,
Discovery Point, home of the historic RRS Discovery, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
To mark the occasion – and the capitalise on the opening of the £80.1 million V&A – it is undergoing a £500,000 revamp.
A number of new exhibitions have been added to its updated gallery spaces, including a touch-screen map of Antarctica and a dress-up area.
Giant light-up “iceberg” cubes feature in an audio-visual gallery with wraparound curved screen.
One gallery is devoted to an explorer theme, celebrating explorers of land, sea, air and space.
Visitors can also guess the size of whales, get up close to artefacts belonging to Discovery’s Captain Robert Falcon Scott, and see the sledge that belonged to Scottish polar explorer Craig Mathieson.
The redevelopment also includes a new multi-purpose learning and activity space and a camera exhibit which allows a real-time 360 degree view from the crow’s nest of the ship, of the surrounding area and waterfront development.
Discovery Point is anticipating a surge in visitors when its neighbour, V&A Dundee opens for business in September.
Generous funding from the Coastal Communities Fund and Dundee City Council has contributed towards the improvements.
Gill Poulter, Heritage and Exhibitions director with Dundee Heritage Trust, which runs Discovery Point, said: “There’s something for everyone among our new, improved exhibits and we know our Easter visitors will be as excited as we are to try them out.
“We hope people will enjoy celebrating not only Antarctic explorers but all adventurers, and maybe find their own inner explorer while they’re at it.”
