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Glass doors glide open to reveal a large, round foyer. Merchandise stands enticingly on either side, drawing the eyes and tiny hands of the young and eager. Between the door and the front counter is a glass-covered table that shows small rocks dancing and moving over water.
No, this isn't the setting for some eclectic store or a far-off oddity. It's the entrance of the newly remodeled Don Harrington Discovery Center, a nonprofit science museum that was established to teach people about science and the world.
"It brings out the individual genius that lives in all of us," said Chip Lindsey, assistant director of the Discovery Center.
The rocks aren't really rocks, but small chips of dry ice that glide across the water like water skimmers and begin to melt when the carbon dioxide propels them across the water.
The Don Harrington Discovery Center opened in 1976, and it originally contained the planetarium - or Space Theatre - and a small group of exhibits on either side. Now it has expanded east and west and includes a new entryway, two large exhibit areas on either side and party rooms.
Some of the exhibits are permanent and have sparked the imagination of thousands of children and adults who have come to explore. Also in residence are several traveling shows that showcase different aspects of the world.
The permanent exhibits include "Planetary Landscapes," which shows how things such as force turbulence and wind form the landscape of Earth, and "Amazing Bodies," which shows how our bodies work and how we relate to other animals.
"Tiny Town," an area reserved for children under age 4, includes the "Tinker House," which many who have visited the Discovery Center will remember from when they were young. "ExploraZone" is an exhibit that teaches children and adults about pendulums, center-of-gravity motion and optical illusions.
Lindsey said many of the exhibits that are not part of the center's permanent exhibits are there for three to six months. He called the current traveling show "a happy accident." The "Torn from Home" exhibit depicts life in a refugee camp.
"Many of us have a funny view of refugees," Lindsey said. "We think they are the poor and destitute, but many of the millions and millions of refugees are the more intelligent people in a country. They are the people that the countries' leaders want to leave. But these million and millions of refugees usually are not men. Instead, they are women and children."
The exhibit is one of the more serious ones the Discovery Center has displayed. It's intended for an age range between 8 and 12 years old.
"An exhibit like this one starts conversation throughout the community, and that's something that we want to do," Lindsey said.
"Torn From Home" will be at the center until May. Another temporary exhibit, "Memory,: showcases how we learn things and how sometimes our mind plays tricks on us because we are so accustomed to doing something that we don't even think about how we do it.
Lindsey thinks the exhibit is a magnet for many college students, who frequently have to memorize information or recall something they had learned before. This summer, the hands-on, temporary exhibits "Arthur Ganson Art Machines," "Cabaret Mechanical Theatre" and "Tinkering" will open.
Generally, people tend to think the Discovery Center is a place for children. But after recent remodeling, many chaperones who accompany kids on field trips come back later with their spouse or with a friend and with no child in sight, according to the staff.
Some people also travel just to come play and learn at the Discovery Center. Kelli Richerson of Floyd, N.M., came with her husband and two children after her 10-year-old son visited on a school trip. Both Richersons agreed that their favorite exhibit was "Hunters of the Sky."
Marcus Paterno, a radiation therapy major, has met people from as far away as Florida in his job at the Discovery Center.
"They knew that they were going to be passing through Amarillo and found the Discovery Center on the Internet that lists things to do in Amarillo," Paterno said.
He said his favorite exhibit is the magnet wall.
The Discovery Center also offers science summer camps from robotics to dinosaurs to chemistry. The DHDC is at 1200 Streit Drive. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for seniors and children over age 2. Children under 2 are admitted free. The center offers a $70 membership for a family of up to six people. The membership pays for itself after four visits for a family of three and is good for a year.
With so many exhibits and things to do at the Discovery Center, people can't help but keep coming back.
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