Exploreum reopens with new technology to showcase

Ozaukee Press staff

The Port Exploreum, which has been closed for much of the last six months due to the pandemic, reopened with a few upgrades last week.

The Exploreum will have a new Lake Michigan table and new diving helmets, as well as a new interactive sand table to teach visitors about watersheds.

The Exploreum was due to get some new technology, Port Washington Historical Society Executive Director Dawn St. George said, noting the museum has been open for six years.

But the exhibits will be the same as last year, since the pandemic kept many people from visiting the museum and seeing them, St. George said.

They are “From the Coal Dock to the Soo Locks,” a collection of photographs of the freighters that plied the Great Lakes taken by the late Paul Wiening, and “Port Washington’s Brewing History: A Long Tradition,” a look at the industry from the mid 1800s to today. 

The technology at the Exploreum will remain much the same — just improved, St. George said. 

The new Lake Michigan table on the main floor will have many of the same features as the old one, including the location of boats on the lake, information about shipwrecks and wind speed.

Instead of being projector-based, like the old one was, this table will have a touch screen, eliminating the sensors that caused the former Lake Michigan table to sometimes freeze, St. George said.

Similarly, the old helmets on the lower level used cell phones to run video of shipwrecks, a process that she said was often “glitchy.” The new ones will be upgraded to eliminate those issues.

The sand table will be used both for visitors and school groups, where it will teach about watersheds and topography up and down the Lake Michigan coast.

“This will be a great teaching tool,” St. George said.

The Exploreum will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays through Mondays until Labor Day. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for children ages 5 to 17.

The Port Light Station on Johnson Street, which traditionally opens at this time, will not open until mid-July, St. George said.

That’s due in large part to the tight spaces people need to pass through to the tower, she said.

“We feel by July that climb will be safer as more people are vaccinated (against Covid-19),” she said.

And the Resource Center at 205 N. Franklin St. will switch to summer hours beginning June 3. The center will be open from 1 to 4 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays until Labor Day weekend.

The center will continue its exhibits from last year, which include a look at the Port Washington Woman’s Club and the shiplights of the Bienlien-Burke collection.