The Museum of Arts and Sciences in Macon is expanding its horizons by upgrading its outdoor area.
Blueprints were laid out last summer and now work is in progress.
Changes won’t be noticed if you walk inside the front doors to visit all your usual favorites, but the upgrades hope to bring recurring visitors like James Hodge back.
“I’ve been coming here for years, since I was a little kid. I love it here," he said.
Staff at the museum hope people will find even more joy in their visits when the new additions are complete next spring.
“We will have the bat cave,” said museum communications director, Sherry Singleton. “For people who have lived here a long time, they know about the old bat cave, so we will have a bat cave up here with large African fruit bats and a raptor rehabilitation center."
No, not the kind of raptors you see in Jurassic Park, but birds of prey such as hawks and owls.
New nature trails out front will fill what Singleton describes as their “green space,” and an amphitheater that will house hundreds of people is in the making.
“I’m really excited about the amphitheater. I’m just really dreaming big things like beautiful Macon Pops concerts and bird shows, things like that,” Singleton described.
The Shurling Pavilion is very close to being done. It is a beautiful covered area with lunch tables and chairs, but the museum is waiting on one final piece.
“We are still working on the netting, but the animals will be able to come outside and hang outside with people who are out here during the day,” Singleton said, pointing to the empty aviaries.
Hodge says he’s excited to see how it all plays out.
“Yeah I’m all for it; I’ll be back if so, definitely,” Hodge said.
The museum has been a Central Georgia staple for decades and Sherry Singleton hopes this will keep people coming back for decades to come.
All of the additions are scheduled to be done in spring 2019.