Tennessee Valley Authority staff members, who designed graphics showing TVA’s role on the Tennessee River and displaying river safety information, join TVA board member Neil McBride, center, and others who helped renovate the exhibit. Laura Smith, with TVA, holds the plaque thanking TVA for its many contributions to the exhibit. (Submitted photos)
Children are once again splashing water as they send wooden tugboats down river in the TVA Waterworks Exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge. The exhibit recently reopened with some new additions that highlight learning through play.
In addition to operating small locks and dams in a flume donated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, children now may climb aboard a child-sized tugboat for an imaginary trip down the Tennessee River. After boarding, children may walk around the deck before entering the pilot house and crews’ quarters of the red, white, and blue tugboat, a small-scale replica of Ingram Marine Group’s working tugboats.
The tugboat is named “Franky the Tugboat” for its builder, Children’s Museum volunteer Frank Peishel, whose carpentry craftsmanship and attention to detail give children the opportunity to learn about life on a river. Nearby, brightly colored graphics and murals designed by TVA cover the exhibit’s walls, describing how people and goods are moved along a river, along with TVA’s role in managing the river and creating power.
“Franky the Tugboat” is named for the boat’s designer and builder, Frank Peishel.
At the recent opening of the renovated exhibit, Children’s Museum Deputy Director Carroll Welch thanked the many volunteers and contributors, including TVA, Ingram Marine Group of Nashville, and Peishel, who shared their time, expertise, and generosity to revitalize the TVA Waterworks Exhibit.
“We can now offer children and their families the opportunity to explore navigation on the river and learn how river transportation is the single most efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly choice to move freight,” Welch said.
The floors of the Waterworks Exhibit, damaged by years of water play, had to be replaced during the exhibit’s renovation, and the tugboat, wall murals, and graphic displays were added.
The flume, closed during the renovation, came from the TVA’s Valley Adventure exhibit on the barge at the 1982 Knoxville World’s Fair. The flume has delighted children with water play at the museum since 1988.
The Children’s Museum is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, and from 1-4 p.m. Sunday. The museum is closed Mondays except in the summer. General admission to the Children’s Museum is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors ages 62 and older, and $5 for children ages 3-18. Admission is free for children under 3 and museum members. For more information, call the Children’s Museum at (865) 482-1074 or see the website at www.childrensmuseumofoakridge.org.
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