By LINDA CHION KENNEY
The Discovery Pass offered through the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative is welcome news to Gail Simmons, whose active life with work, children and grandchildren in trying economic times begs for a much-deserved break.
That’s where the Discovery Pass, launched April 14, steps in, as a cost-effective way to take advantage of digital museum and attraction passes that encourage solo and group visits to major spots throughout Hillsborough County.
Included in that list is an attraction that especially draws Simmons’ attention, the Imagine Museum of Contemporary Glass Art, and a museum that she is keen on visiting with her grandchildren, the Glazer Children’s Museum.
On display in the Tampa Museum of Art, shot two years ago on a family trip
“You work hard for your money, and you pay your taxes, and it’s nice to know that there are services out there to help us stay engaged and to help better our lives or to learn new things,” said Simmons, who is nearing retirement on a fixed income as her grandson readies for graduation from Spoto High in Riverview.
Simmons, who has also two daughters and two granddaughters, said she looks forward to taking advantage of Discovery Pass offerings, which in most instances involve admission for up to four people (two adults and two children, or one adult and three children).
On the list is the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, “dedicated to exhibiting important photographic art as central to contemporary life and culture.” The museum moved recently to Ybor City, where now on view is, “The Hutterites: In the World but Not of It.” Featured is the photography of Manitoba-based photographer Tim Smith, who reportedly has spent 15 years photographing the close-knit communal family of the Hutterites, a pacifist Anabaptist group with roots going back to the 16th century.
Also on tap, the Tampa Museum of Art, which houses one of the largest Greek and Roman antiquities collections in the southeastern United States. Billed as one of the region’s most prominent museums devoted to the art of our time, the museum’s permanent collection includes sculpture, photography, painting, new media and more.
Especially compelling for Simmons is the American Victory Ship and Museum, one of four fully-operational World War II ships in the country. “That’s the ship my father was involved with,” Simmons said. “As an engineer and retiree, he was instrumental in working on the ship after it got here from Louisiana. He had sailed on it in World War II and once they got it into port, he was part of the restoration of the engine room.”
Also in the mix of Discovery Pass offerings is the Tampa Bay History Center, a Smithsonian Affiliate Museum, featuring hands-on exhibits, immersive theater experiences and three floors of permanent and temporary exhibits focusing on 12,000 years of Tampa Bay history. Featured in the mix are opportunities to “hit the high seas with conquistadors and pirates, stroll the brick streets of Ybor City with Cuban cigar rollers” and “saddle-up for a cattle drive with Florida pioneers.”
Located along the city’s Riverwalk, the history museum is roughly 1 mile from the Glazer Children’s Museum, featuring hands-on learning activities. In a visit to the museum with her grandchildren, “We talked about things they ordinarily would not see or experience,” Simmons said. “I like it when the kids have things they can interact with, play with, feel and see, and then discuss with them the particular things they liked and learned.”
The Discovery Pass, with free admission offerings as well for the Tampa Museum of Art, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Tampa Theatre and Henry B. Plant Museum, allows for family outings in inflationary times.
“If you have to pay for the museum, and then also parking and lunch, it makes it that much more difficult to spend a day out with your family,” Simmons said. “Bottom line, the Discovery Pass lets me do things for myself or with my family and not spend a lot of money.”
Standing out from the mix is the “balcony-to-backstage tour of the historic” Tampa Theatre, which involves a 90-minute walking tour and demonstration of the theatre’s Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ. Space is limited, and to guarantee admission, the pass receipt must be exchanged for one tour ticket only, at the theatre box office, at 711 North Franklin St.
“For someone who’s never seen the organ before, it’s pretty awesome,” Simmons said. “You get to see a different kind of instrument that really isn’t used that much anymore.”
Simmons said she has been to the theatre many times to see classical movies and, most recently, went to the theatre with her grandson John to see a documentary about Mister Rogers. “I like architecture, live entertainment, music and history, so that it’s an old theater intrigues me.”
Linda Chion Kenney
The Henry B. Plant Museum, housed in the former Tampa Bay Hotel, is home now to the museum and the University of Tampa.
One place Simmons said she hasn’t yet frequented is the Henry B. Plant Museum, housed in the former Tampa Bay Hotel, an opulent winter resort in operation from 1891 to 1932. Home now to the museum and the University of Tampa, the building, renamed Plant Hall, is a national historic landmark, commemorating its role as a military headquarters during the Spanish-American War. Boasting the “actual furnishings enjoyed by the first guests to visit here,” the museum is said to accurately reflect “the extravagance of the Gilded Age’s industrial elite and the vision of shipping and railroad magnate Henry B. Plant,” for whom Plant City in eastern Hillsborough County is named.
For more on the Discovery Pass, its options now and upcoming, visit www.hcplc.org/services/discoverypass/. Be aware that you cannot book more than 30 days ahead of the date you want to visit.