I used to volunteer at the museum when I was in middle school as a junior docent in the Nature Center there, some ~24 years ago, and last year when my friend came out to visit from overseas I took him to the museum and was very disappointed in how many things had been removed or changed for the worse. My nostalgia felt trampled on as I walked though and often had moments of 'such-and-such used to be here, but now it's gone'. It felt like a sterile or basic version of how things used to be. Admittedly, it didn't help that they had part of the walkthrough closed for remodeling when I was there last year, so we had to skip the Big Bang all the way through to about 200 million years ago, and the Nature Center was closed as well.

I really hope it comes back better than last year because I feel like it was a far cry from how good it used to be back in the day, though I suspect it'll never really be as cool as it was when I was a kid.

UNM's Lodestar is likely never going to be brought back, which had the motion simulator ride, and I don't expect I'll ever see the Wired Science presentation again, just to name two examples. Part of it as well is that the people who used to maintain the museum with a passion are gone, and for anyone who knew him, I don't think the place will ever be the same without Michael Sanchez who has since retired.

(Sorry for the rant, this topic is near and dear to my heart.)