Discovery Park of America Announces Reopening Plans

Union City, Tenn.—While Discovery Park of America will remain closed to the public through May 2020, the museum and heritage park is planning to reopen the outside areas for members only on Sat., May 30 and Sun., May 31, 2020 following strict social distancing guidelines.

The 50-acre heritage park will then open to the general public beginning June 1, 2020, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and be closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays for deep cleaning. Discovery Center, the museum at Discovery Park, will remain closed at this time. While most of the outside areas will be open to the public beginning June 1, the Children’s Discovery Garden Playground will be closed until further notice. The entrance to Discovery Park will be through the outside North Ticket Gate.

A task force made up of managers of various departments at Discovery Park has been working extensively on guidelines for employees and guests to the park that incorporate the “Tennessee Pledge” guidance from Gov. Bill Lee’s Tennessee Economic Recovery Group.

“As one of our leading museums and attractions in the state, we’ve been working closely with Discovery Park’s leadership to provide information and guidance as they create their reopening plan,” said Tennessee Department of Tourist Development’s commissioner, Mark Ezell, who is also chairing the Tennessee Economic Recovery Group. “We need Tennessee businesses like Discovery Park to step up and pledge to follow the guidelines developed by the recovery group. It is critically important that we maintain our commitment to social distancing and adhere to these new guidelines so that we can continue to reopen our economy.”

Employees of Discovery Park will be following new procedures that include temperature checks, masks and a strict social distancing policy. Guests will also be given guidelines that will allow them to enjoy the park while ensuring their health and safety. A complete list of the new guidelines for guests can be found on Discovery Park’s website.

“Since Discovery Park of America first closed on March 17, 2020 because of the threat brought on by the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak, our goal has been the safety and welfare of our community, guests and staff,” said Scott Williams, Discovery Park’s president and CEO. “Our plan for reopening continues that commitment by incorporating a nurse on duty when we are open, extensive deep-cleaning procedures, limiting the number of guests in our smaller areas and ongoing evaluation and implementation of best practices as we make this incredible outdoor space available to guests once again.”

The Discovery Park task force will continue to monitor the data and review state and federal guidelines to determine if changes to the reopening schedule are required and to set an opening date for the museum.

Photo Caption: The south side of Discovery Park’s heritage park includes a man-made river flowing through the landscaped property along with a 120-year-old church, waterfalls and bridges.