Witte Museum

Purpose: Serving as Centers of Community Engagement The Witte Museum will develop a prototype, Witte Water Works, of the Water Resource Center, a capital expansion project planned for 2007. The Witte Water Works will provide 10,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space on the San Antonio River, with experimental, technologically sophisticated exhibits and programs on water. The overall theme is that there is no "new water." The indoor exhibit will be designed around questions such as the following: What do we know about water? What don't we know or see? How have other people throughout the world lived with water, prehistorically and historically? How should we live with water in the future? The outdoor exhibit will be designed around questions such as these: How is the river like a nursery for animals, insects, and plants? What can we do to protect the river? The design responses to these questions include a Visitor's journey through water pipes, water towers, and (using real-time 3-D technology) through the underground aquifer in an immersive virtual reality environment from the point of view of a drop of water. Visitors will handle aquatic life from river pools, test the river for water quality, and experience urban irrigation. The goal is to set the stage for ongoing dialogue and interactive experiences that will bring history, science, and culture to bear on the future of water in South Texas.