Criticizes Fort Discovery's execution

My wife and I were recently on vacation from the United Kingdom in Augusta. After all the hype in the columns of your newspaper we were disappointed by our visit to Fort Discovery. While we applaud the concept, the execution leaves much to be desired.

For a start, it is unfortunate that the restaurant is not yet open. If visitors are going to do justice to the 250 exhibits they are going to need several hours at Fort Discovery; to have to leave and find sustenance at half time is, to say the least, inconvenient. The main problem, though, is at least half of the exhibits on the day we visited (May 12) were not functional. One might accept it if 10 percent of the complex exhibits were not functional at any one time, but 50 percent is surely unacceptable.

At best, this is taking the public's money under false pretenses; at worst, this is going to have a counterproductive effect on the children who, it is hoped, may be enthused by such an introduction to science and technology.

One of the more obvious problems is that many of the exhibits are not childproof. What a pity, a great idea spoiled by its execution.

R.C. Armstrong, Tenterden, Kent

(Editor's note: Fort Discovery spokeswoman Phyllis Hendry says that, out of 250 interactive displays, only 15 weren't working properly. All are now repaired.)