MYSTIC, CT - One year after United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) announced a $1 million donation to expand and transform Mystic Aquarium’s Challenge of the Deep exhibition hall, the project is beginning to take shape. Designs for the new Titanic exhibit, created by former Walt Disney Imagineer Tim Delaney, are near complete and Mystic Aquarium—operated by Sea Research Foundation—is offering a special sneak peek of what visitors can expect.
The new Titanic exhibit “takes people 14,500 feet below to the ocean floor, a whole new world and mysterious, awesome place to be,” explained Delaney. “There, visitors can better appreciate the fascinating human drama and incredible technical story of how Dr. Robert Ballard found Titanic, as well as the powerful impact on the crew’s and public’s imaginations.”
Delaney and Sea Research’s Dr. Ballard first met more than 30 years ago when they collaborated on Epcot’s “Living Seas Pavilion” in 1985. In the intervening years, Delaney created many other Disney icons, including Hong Kong’s “Tomorrowland” and Paris’ “Discoveryland.” Ballard and Delaney have remained great friends since their first meeting and now they’re teaming up to bring an interactive experience that celebrates Titanic’s glorious beginning, examines her undoing and reveals the euphoric moment of her discovery.
Sea Research President & CEO Dr. Stephen M. Coan said, “United Technologies’ long-standing dedication to education, combined with Dr. Ballard’s innovation and Tim Delaney’s imagination, has created what promises to be an engaging exhibit full of excitement and adventure for all ages to share.”
In December, crews will break ground on the Titanic exhibit and it will open in April 2012 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ship’s launch and sinking. This also marks the first phase in the development of the United Technologies Ocean Exploration Center, which is expected to formally open in early 2013.
The United Technologies Ocean Exploration Center will be the only exhibit in the world dedicated to deep-sea oceanographic archaeology, geology and exploration. Visitors will be immersed in hands-on displays that depict everything from mythical sea monsters to Dr. Ballard’s groundbreaking undersea discoveries of vessels, ancient and modern, as well as recent expeditions to the Black, Mediterranean and Aegean seas.
