[ applause ] >>my name is sam ashley, anchor at abc 7 news and i am delighted to be with you, i had a very difficult trip over i had to pass the embaracaro and so i worked the late news and about the only thing that would get me up this early is a round of golf, i am proud to serve as your mc and we have a wonderful ceremony, in my line of work any time that i can be in front of a large group of people that can't change the channel, i will get up early for that. >> you know, kind of a unique role here, part news man and part neighbor, we are right across the street. and super fan of the work that

everyone involved in this great project has done and the end result. how many of you have had a chance to see the inside of this facility? it is beyond words, really. and as of this morning, the public now has a chance to see what all of you have been up to these past many, many months to see this come to fruition is truly a programmable and satisfying and it is really a new crown jewel for the city of san francisco. [ applause ] >> you know, some months ago this was just an abandoned pier and 300 million dollars later and a lot of love and attention, it has been transformed into a place of discovery, a place of imagination, and a place of repose. in this new neighborhood, here along the embarcadaro, the san

francisco exporatorium is truly reborn bigger and better than ever, and we know in this new location and facility and sort of a new sense of enthusiasm it is going to be a huge success and a integral part of what visitors come to enjoy in san francisco and of course what all residents in the bay area come to enjoy. it is fantastic, i know that my kids used to love to come visit. i know that they will be excited and they are kind of big now and they will be excited to come and visit this new facility as well. we just aired and i want to remind for those of who you did not see it, i did a half hour special, thank you very much. [ applause ] and it is not, a shameless plug for the special, i promise you, it is a celebration of what was done here, we worked really hard to capture the enthusiasm and the quality of the exhibits and all of the deep thought and love and care that went into creating this new facility and it is just an exciting look at what has been done, so if you

have not seen it, it will air the 28th, a week from this sunday at 4:30 on channel seven, of course and you can go to the website and watch the whole half hour now and it is just a lot of fun to see. we show you what they did in terms of rebuilding the pier and moving the exhibits and just an amazing amount of work that it took to bring us to this point today. let me begin by first speaker this morning, the exporatorium board of directors represents the authority and bay area of course. from the silicon value, the giants a member of the grateful dead, even. i would like to introduce you to george, the advocate and champion of the exporatorium and its vision and campus on piers 15, and 17, george come and say a few words, please. [ applause ]

>> what a beautiful day to open a museum. good morning, and welcome, this new campus is an incredible gift from the philinthropic community and beyond. visitors of all ages, dan, all ages, and backgrounds will come here by the millions to nurture their curiosity. science teachers in the bay area and around the country will call it their professional home, artists will continue to collaborate with scientists here. and science education institutions around the world will benefit from the research and the innovation that will occur here. this has been a true journey, long, and rewarding. a culmination of years and

planning and hard work, not just by the exporatorium staff and board, about whom i can't say enough. [ applause ] but also by the city and the state including many of you here today. the exporatorium is really all about collaboration. collaborativive learning, collaborative decision-making and collaborative management. and this process has been a true collaboration, bringing together the staff and the board, government agencies, neighborhood associations, our fellow san francisco museums and many other con stitcies. >> raising the money to turn this bold vision into a reality was a true labor of love for the board. two factors made our job

actually quite easy. first, everyone in the bay area loves the exporatorium. [ applause ] and second, it is an institution that in its first 43 year has made a big impact in the world. what you see here is the end result of a lot of work by thousands of people. we see this space not just as a new campus, but as a transformative platform from which to multiply our impact, those within the museum and also beyond its walls. it is a great honor for me to represent the entire board along with two chairman ameriti who are both here today, dan casper and bill bos.

>> both of who played... [ applause ] both of whom played critical roles in making this happen. over a decade, i'm thrilled to be placing this first ring on our beautiful new bell, this ring represents visionaries and designers, the dreamers, architects and imaginers, of the exporatorium, thank you very much. >> george, thank you very much. please welcome now, dr. dennis bartel the executive director of the exporatorium and truly a driving force behind this remarkable and amazing project. [ applause ]

>> wow. what an amazing journey. i know, my chairman was nervous for a second that i was going to use an expletive. we are unbelievably excited to open the exporatorium at piers, 15 and 17 here to the entire san francisco community and the world beyond. it has been many years coming and it took an army of thousands to put it together. there is just a few special groups that i want to highlight here today. the first from the bottom of my heart this tireless, staff, this leslie, yes i am going to do it, this lovely band of miss

fits anywhere in the world who pulled this together, thank you. >> to our board of directors and their leadership and support. never waivering, that unflagging optimism and vision to finally land here on san francisco's front porch. to our architects led by mark batalion to our contractors led by midy brother and our banks, led by the bank of america this would not have been possible without you. to our partners the city and port of san francisco and the agencies that approved this project unanimously to bring it here.

six different boards and six unanimous votes. >> and finally who welcomed us and even this fabulous institution across the street, dan, thank you. our founder, frank openhimer when he started the exporatorium created something unlike it in the rest of the we woulder. it led to the movement of thousand of similar institutions since that time and never really wanted to call it a museum and he searched for a different word and it was our neighborhood across the street, who sat down with frank to come up with the word exporatorium. but to us, the staff, we really believe that it is this wonderful, zany public, learning laboratory. and where we get to invent and create things all of the time and now we have this beautiful new platform of which to do that work. but it took my predecessor who

is also here today, a french physicist. to boldly declare that it is not a place, but an idea, an idea and way of thinking to change the way was learned, and for the exporatorium and its brand. today, i'm just so delighted, that we have a chance, to open up our doors with more space, more exhibits, more classrooms, more play, by our own estimates we believe that our impact will be multiplied somewhere between three and ten times depending on what type of a program that you are talking about because of the beautiful site and the radical accessibility. [ applause ] so i just wanted to explain a

little bit more about the ceremony today and the beautiful bell over here, a hand crafted bell done by artists nick depilipo, would you stand for a second? this has quite a bit of significant, for the community. many of you will know that frank brought the bell from his ranch to the original exporatorium and ever since that day, the youth that run the place, trust me they really one the place, ring that bell to among the end of the day. this place is obviously too big for one bell and so we needed another one. and nick in his vision, nick who served actually as the head of foundry for a kindred institution across the bay, the crucible came up with this amazing vision of this hand crafted bell that each speaker as they get up here today will put another ring on at the very end, we have a very special guest, who will do the final

ringing and we will open up for the day. so for my ring, i want to honor our institutional history and memory and for all of those who have come before us. thank you, dennis very much. >> our next speaker needs no introduction, he is a advocate for redevelopment and believes in buildinging the peaceful communications and a great communitier and collaborative or and reorganizing agency to better serve all of us in the bay area and coming all of those to come to the exporatorium he is a walking

billboard for this place. please welcome san francisco mayor ed lee. [ applause ] thank you, dan. dan i just wanted to say, thank you for your great work and leadership, you are quickly earning, this new title that we are creating here, explainer extradinaire. in fact when we were pulling up to the station this morning and greeted by the warm and wonderful staff, the first question is how do you feel, mayor? andvy to be honest with you, i feel like the kid in the family who is just moved into san francisco, and about to be shown his or her bedroom. you kind of get really excited. so good morning, everybody and welcome to our wonderful water front, that is wonderful to be

here with lieutenant government, newsom or chiu and scott weiner i saw him here as well and our city attorney and the director of the port and our treasurer, here as well. and of course, the exporatorium team of dennis bartel george, and dr. rob semp er all here today on this momentus occasion, thank you everyone, our port commissioners here as well are here too. and i want to just make sure that everybody remembers that it was in 2006, that lieutenant governor made a promise made a promise that san francisco would rebuild a world class state of the art facility, that would expand our capacity to educate, and to inspire the curiosity of children, young and old from all around the world. and today, we are delivering on that promise. as we celebrate the reopening of our exporatorium, one of our

city's treasured education and cultural institutions for over 40 years. where else in the world would you have our children and our families experience over 1,000 interactive exhibits that explore, biology, physics, listening, cognitive, perception and social behavior and the environment. right here in san francisco. and it just does not happen in every city, but it will happen here. not only in san francisco, but for the families around the world. and the exporatorium does so much more for our san francisco communities. it offers our region's children and families 3,500 under served children and families will have free, science workshops. 70. yes. 70 under served middle high school students, opportunities

to participate in college prep courses right here and training and hiring of over 200 of our city's youth, in docet jobs called explainers who will be warmly greeting you in front of the brand new station of the exporatorium of muni. [ applause ] >> so that is the function and the purpose of the exporatorium and let me tell you a little bit about how this place does even more than that. it provides public new access, public access to water-front sites for the first time in over 50 years. two, brand new acres of public accessible open space. access to our historic bulkhead at pier 15 and the bay history walk. links to the urban and marine environment with two new, brand new pedestrian bridges. and public access to a spectacular water way, between the piers. and so you know that it is not

surprising that the exporatorium is called san francisco our innovation capitol of the world home for over four decades, because the world can see that the spirit of innovation permeating from every exhibit in the exporatorium and again through this brand new facility. now this facility is built with a net zero energy, and solar panels that will provide 1.2 megawatts of power and a function for the bay water to be used to provide radiant heat and 3,000 gallons of water will circulate throughout the building for non-portable uses. >> that is an incredible contribution to our environment. [ applause ]

we know given the leadership here, this building, this world gas facility that we invested in with the city and our stiets's residents, local hiring to build it, we put them back to work during a time in which it was so challenging for the country and for the bay area. 900 jobs in construction alone and while the facility is running, 540 jobs will result in running this facility on a daily basis. another wonderful, wonderful contribution. >> so, you look at this extraordinary success and literally all of the different fronts from design to environment and to the purpose to the youth and families to the way that it was built and function and you add this. monique to our new cruise ship terminal that we just opened in february, to lieutenant governor and i and so many others on that rainy day of

celebrating the bay lights that just happened, to now, on the eve of 55 days of wonderful sailing on our bay. the america's cup the 34th america's cup, this simply demonstrates what the exporatorium how our commitment to a 21st century san francisco will be forever successful for all of our residents. so thank you to the exporatorium director, dennis martels to your wonderful board and leadership. lieutenant governor newsom and the port and commissioners and president david chiu and the entire board of supervisors and the elected officials for being part of this extraordinary effort. and thank you for making this a dream, making this dream a reality for children and adults in our city and around the world. and before i lay my part of the ring on this bell, i will proclaim this to be april 17,

2013, exporatorium day in san francisco. all right. and with that, my contribution on the ring is the third ring, which is called the catalyst ring. and it represents the contributions of civic leadership and public agencies working altogether to make this dream a reality. another hand for mayor ed lee, please? >> our next speaker was mayor of this great city from 2003, to 2011 and his support was

crucial to its success. and he is also a proud native san franciscoan who grew up with the appreciation for the exporatorium and the role of education in our civic life. >> i would like to introduce newsom who is a passionate for transforming that into the future of our society and works tirelessly behind the scenes to be sure that we are standing where we are today. and first, i can't help myself because i love the fact that nikki heart is part of this and you don't get a chance to quote people from the grateful dead. but it was not mixky who said this, but he may claim credit. but it was jerry garcia who said that you don't want to be the best of the best you want to be the only one that does