Children’s Museum planning $4.2 million exhibit

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is planning a $4.2 million permanent exhibit in partnership with the National
Geographic Society that will provide an immersive learning experience in archeological excavation, the museum announced Tuesday
morning.

"National Geographic Treasures of the Earth" is scheduled to open in the summer of 2011. The National Geographic
Society rarely partners on permanent museum exhibits, the Children's Museum said.

The exhibit “will transport families to world-renowned archeological excavation sites filled with amazing treasures
for a hands-on adventure,” Jeffrey Patchen, president and CEO of the museum, said in a prepared statement. The exhibit
is intended to give visitors a taste of discovering, investigating and interpreting an archeological site.

Though the exhibit doesn't open for more than a year, the museum will begin marketing efforts this month by unveiling
a set of shipping crates filled with artifacts related to next year’s launch. The crates will be opened March 16, March
23 and March 30.

The largest immersive learning permanent exhibit at the museum is the “Dinosphere,”  which opened six years
ago at a cost of $25 million. The Lilly Endowment provided $15 million toward that project.