Museum director Ian Griffin made that comment in a recent report to the Otago Museum Trust Board, reflecting on the temporary closure of Discovery World and the forest, as part of the Otago Science Centre redevelopment.
Dr Griffin said the redeveloped science centre would reopen in December and it was ''quite humbling to think of the impact'' the ''amazing'' Discovery World and forest had had ''on the lives of the people in our region''.
During the last weekend the two facilities had been open, at the end of last month, many people had visited and shared their memories of attending Discovery World and the forest, which were established in 1996 and 2007, respectively.
The whole museum team was working towards the opening of the new science centre, and work was well under way to strip down the space and prepare it for the arrival of ''some spectacular interactive exhibits'', Dr Griffin said.
