Posted by Dalton on April 20, 2000 at 21:12:14:
In Reply to: May 27th meeting - it's not too late! posted by Mark Darrah on April 19, 2000 at 23:05:10:
I don't mean to dampen expectations for those attending the Titanic exhibition, but I thought I'd share a few very general impressions of the Museum of Science and Industry I got while attending the Titanic exhibition last Sunday. Better to go in with lowered expectations and be pleasantly surprised than to be disappointed when unreasonably high expectations are not met.
1) My main gripe is that the Titanic exhibition was EXTREMELY crowded - I would even say they grossly oversold it. Even though they limit entrances to every 15 minutes, people obviously stay longer. When you have to wait in a line just to view a HAIRBRUSH, you get the feeling that people are getting impatient when you stop to linger over anything significant. There are very interesting artifacts that take some time to peruse there (such as letters and documents that I would have liked to read), but it does take some nerve to "hog" them with so many people behind you. Granted; I did go on the weekend closest to the anniversary of the sinking. Perhaps in late May the attendance will be lower.
2) I found many of the displays to be poorly lit, some with just a few dim fiber optic cables. The replica rooms somewhat disappointed me (particularly the grand staircase) in their lack of attention to fine detail. Some of the "artifacts" were obviously not from the Titanic (e.g. the wireless equipment), but not CLEARLY labelled.
3) I sensed the museum staff at the Titanic exhibit was overworked, brusque and unenthusiastic. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. It was late in the day. And Sunday is their busiest day. I don't think I'd be too happy dealing with such large crowds for so long. Still...
4) There is a room dedicated to an interesting related "Chicago story", the Eastland disaster of 1915, of which few outside the city have heard. Check it out if you have time.
5) The museum has recently spent a great deal of money on infrastructure improvements. The underground parking garage and new entrance are great. The building looks beautiful from the outside without the parking lots surrounding it. But, as a consequence, the actual EXHIBITS are suffering. Many are outdated. They are actually using Texas Instruments TI94 computers, circa 1979, in some interactive displays. A few of them actually still work. There is a very large "contemporary" AIDS exhibit. Other exhibits appear to have been hastily crowded together, culled, or removed entirely by the space requirements of Titanic.
Again, these are just my impressions. Many people leaving the Titanic exhibit or wandering the rest of museum seemed to be favorably impressed. And while I'm complaining, I'm still glad I made the trip to experience it. I just wish so many others hadn't the same idea at the same time...