Think it comes from somewhere Up in the sky or from some far off lovely place

Contrary to popular belief, I am not adverse to change.

Images taken from one of the blogs linked below.

In fact, I think change is not only inevitable, but necessary and vital.

I don't think that change is a bad thing.

I do, however, sometimes question the efficacy of certain changes.

Case in point: the pre-renovations to the California Academy of Sciences.

The California Academy of Sciences used to be one of my favourite places in the entire world. It was very similar in tone and structure to other major natural history museums, such as the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and, of course, the American Museum of Natural History that is in New York. (Speaking of change, the latter of which has shockingly outdated depictions of human beings with little to no context, and is very much something that could use some changes!) My favourite locations were the old California Hall, the fish roundabout, and the journey through time section with the dinosaurs.

Here are some marvelous images of the old museum. Here is a great rundown of the changes. This is a great Pinterest board with some really nice old images (and a hilarious title).

Image from Pinterest, credit to whomever it belongs to. 

The Academy was renovated in the mid-aughts for what was claimed to be seismic retrofit. Again, I don't mind change, and safety implementations are never a bad thing.

The bad thing was when the museum reopened in 2008 and it became a bloated, badly designed, costly and inaccessible nightmare. It went from being a relaxing and sensory-friendly experience, to an absolute sensory nightmare. The sustainability messaging was overly self-congratulatory; what was the point of the messages when only wealthy people could now visit the museum? 

What is now that is considered the "natural history museum" portion of the museum is a joke. The naturalist section remains one of the few things that is generally the same, and interesting. The aquarium section is very much a rip off of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The only real improvement is the Rainforest dome. The living roof is admittedly neat.

But mostly, the museum is now an inaccessible sensory nightmare, poor designed, and easily congested. In fact, most people who were familiar with the old one share these sentiments.

As with all changes, there will eventually be more people who are more familiar with the change than what was there before. Next year, the old version of the museum will have been gone for 20 years. It's never coming back. I know this both intellectually and emotionally.  It's not about "accepting" something or not, because it's happening whether or not you accept it. I used to live at the old version of the museum. I went once a week, used to regularly check out books from their library, loved members' night when you got to go through all of the departments' archives and get your little map stamped. I miss being a member and just going there on a rainy day and hanging out there, spending hours in each of the rooms. I miss the museum feeling safe and like home.

But it's not meant for me or people like me anymore. 

The last time I went, it was December of 2022, shortly after Christmas. I hadn't been in a few years. What I used to do once a week, I now do once every 5 or 6 years, maybe. The only times I have been since it opening was the Night Life events, and that was only because those are significantly reduced ticket prices. There was an exhibit that showed off part of the Academy's archives--you know, stuff they used to have on display all of the time. It was the best experience I had had there in years. It was also more congested that usual, and I had forgotten how literally awful the bathroom situations had become at the new version of the museum. I was with really good friends, so I was able to avoid what would have been serious sensory issues. I am still daydreaming about the chicken sandwich I had. But I can't imagine going again any time soon. 

And that's okay. 

I promise.