The Apple co-founder contributed $1.8 million to the project. The Children’s Discovery Museum opened in 1990 and has welcomed more than 10 million visitors since.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak helped finance the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose. The museum’s backgrounder says his gifts totalled $1.8 million: an initial $800,000 in 1984 and another $1 million two years later. The contributions supported a long fundraising effort for a permanent museum building.
The museum opened on June 2, 1990. Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta designed its downtown San Jose building. Times of India reports that more than 10 million people have visited since it opened. The outlet also puts the building at about 52,000 square feet and says the museum has more than 150 interactive exhibits.
The exhibits are designed around learning by doing: children explore objects and ideas, experiment and learn through play. Topics include science, humanities, performing arts, health and physical fitness. The outdoor Bill’s Backyard area gives children room to climb, dig, plant and explore nature.
Two local organizers started the project and spent nearly a decade raising money. The museum was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1983 and ran a travelling education programme before opening its permanent home. By 1989, organisers had raised nearly $10 million in a capital campaign.