Welcome to Discovery Center ~ Great Lakes!
Discovery Center~Great Lakes is the shared home to the Maritime Heritage Alliance, Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, Great Lakes Children’s Museum and future home to part of the sailing program directed by Traverse Area Community Sailing.
The mission of Discovery Center ~ Great Lakes is to: Create and maintain a collaborative water-related educational facility where all children, youth, and adults can learn the value of historic preservation, the importance of environmental stewardship, the joy of discovery, and the pleasure of water-based recreation.
There are always many different water related activities going on at Discovery Center. Whether your interest is in learning about the preservation of our water-rich region, exploring the fascinating history of sailing in the Great Lakes or letting your children do some hands-on exploration of water-related inquiry-based exhibits and activities, Discovery Center~Great Lakes is the place.
- The Maritime Heritage Alliance supports an active workshop for historic boat building as well as a sailing mentoring program for youth.
- The eco-friendly offices of the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay offer information on how to get involved with watershed protection including the Adopt-a-Stream program and volunteer water quality monitoring in the Grand Traverse Bay area.
- The Great Lakes Children’s Museum, which serves 25,000 visitors per year, offers two galleries of hands-on, water-related exhibits for children and their families, as well as various programs throughout the year.
- Traverse Area Community Sailing has future plans to use the bayfront for intermediate sailing instruction. Currently they offer beginning sailing instruction for youth ages 8-17 and adults on Boardman Lake.
We continue to plan learning opportunities for the future. Together, we are working to make Discovery Center ~ Great Lakes a place where area non-profit organizations dedicated to water related issues can come together and share resources. We are working to create an educational center that will awaken a sense of wonder by encouraging understanding and stewardship of the Grand Traverse Bay. In the process we hope Discovery Center will become a site that will be one of the areas leading cultural, educational and recreational attractions.