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Visitors to the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary's Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center have called the facility among other things, a children's museum or science museum.

Superintendent Jeff Gray believes the building is all of these things and more, as it has become the primary base for the sanctuary's operations. Within a few short years the facility has grown to one of the popular attractions in Alpena, drawing thousands of people since its permanent exhibits opened in 2008.

The sanctuary has been well received in the community since its designation in 2000 and its success can be credited to strong collaboration with governmental entities and organizations within the area. It's one of 14 federally designated marine sanctuaries across the United States and the only one solely designated to protect freshwater archaeological sites and shipwrecks. The sanctuary is 448 square miles with the boundaries extending to the northern and southern boundaries of Alpena County.

"I think that all of the successes of the sanctuary on our projects from research to the education outreach, through the building and the (Great Lakes Maritime Heritage) trail and resource protection have all been because of the great relationships with the community," Gray said. "It's kind of indicative of our success, without our volunteers, without our advisory council, without support from the city, the county and the state this building probably won't be here."

Sanctuary staff moved into the heritage center in September 2005 from the offices at the Federal Building in downtown Alpena. At first the center offered minor exhibits as the focus was on completing the building and designing the permanent exhibits.

"Between 2005 and June of 2008 we enhanced the exhibits, gradually did things to keep it fresh. While that was going on we were developing our permanent exhibits, 'Exploring the Shipwreck Century' exhibits," Gray said. "Kind of while that was happening on a separate track we were also developing our programs, we did more and more programs in volume but then more and more diverse types of programs from kindergarten to graduate students and continuing education students people of all ages."

The exhibit collection opened to the public in June 2008 after about two years of planning and work. The collection includes panels detailing history of different Lake Huron shipwrecks, models of ships and a map detailing the locations of the shipwrecks around Thunder Bay. The main highlight of the collection includes a schooner with one half going through a storm to give visitors a taste of Great Lakes shipping life. The other portion the schooner is shipwrecked to give visitors an underwater feel and view of a wreck. Children can climb through the exhibit's "discovery tubes" to give them a diver's perspective of the wreck. Throughout the collection, interactive displays and panels provide a hands-on learning experience.

Between June 2008 and March 2009, the heritage center saw approximately 50,000 visitors come through its doors. These have included school groups, bus tours, families and curious individuals. It's been fun for staff to watch children guide their parents around the exhibits to show them something. The exhibits have become part of the programming at the sanctuary and is essentially a large learning space, Gray said.

"That really tells us that it was a success when kids are that excited to share it with their parents. You think about usually the other way with parents dragging their children into a museum," he said.

Staff are in the process of planning the second phase of the exhibit collection which will include the return of Science on a Sphere. The concepts for how the sphere will be integrated into the collection are being developed.

Once the sphere is again part of the exhibits, the sanctuary will be able to do telepresence programs known as "sphere-casting." Through this program, the sanctuary will be able to participate in broadcasts with other sites around the country, Gray said.

While the heritage center has become an integral part of the sanctuary, it cannot replace the shipwrecks and Great Lakes resources. Through education, sanctuary staff seek to foster and develop a care of the resources along with encouraging visitation of these sites in a responsible manner, Gray said.

"One thing I stress when we talk about research protection, we want people to go visit these sites. We're encouraging people to go visit these sites through the mooring buoy program, through marketing efforts, through working with local dive shops and dive charter operators, through divers and snorkelers," he said. "We're hoping people come from faraway places to visit these sites but what we want to is through the education is to make sure they do it in a way that the next generation of visitors can also enjoy it the same way they do now."

As the sanctuary moves forward one of its goals is to continue to stay relevant to the community along with fostering an appreciation for the Great Lakes, Gray said.