The Big Idea (museum) facts for kids
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| Established | 15 April 2000 |
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| Dissolved | 15 August 2003 |
| Location | Ardeer, North Ayrshire |
| Type | Science Centre |
| Visitors |  50,000 (2003) |
| Architect | Ian Russell |
The Big Idea was a cool science centre in Irvine, Scotland. It was built on the land where Nobel Explosives used to make things. This special place was planned in 2000 to celebrate amazing inventions and the people who created them.
About £14 million was spent to build it. But sadly, after only three years, the museum closed in 2003. Not enough people were visiting. Even 17 years later, the building is still empty on the peninsula.
The Story of The Big Idea
The idea for this museum came about for the new millennium. It was meant to celebrate inventors from Scotland and all over the world. A lot of money helped make it happen. The Millennium Commission gave £5.5 million. European funding added £5 million. Scottish Enterprise gave £500,000, and private groups gave £3 million.
The museum showed off many Scottish inventors. These included John Napier, who invented logarithms. Also featured were William Murdock, who worked with gas lighting, and Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin. John Logie Baird, who helped invent television, was also celebrated.
The museum had many cool things for visitors. The main part had five "focal points." These were Power, Control, Materials, Communication, and Mechanisms. There was also a large theatre named after Alfred Nobel.
A time capsule is buried under the museum's reception area. Students from Ardeer Primary School placed it there in June 1999. To get to the museum, you had to cross a special footbridge. It was called the 'Bridge of Scottish Inventions'. This bridge could move to let ships pass on the River Irvine. Since the museum closed, the bridge has stayed in the open position.
Why Visitor Numbers Mattered
When it first opened in 2000, the museum was very popular. About 120,000 people visited that year. But by 2003, only 50,000 people came. This was much less than needed to pay for the museum's running costs. Another big project, the Millennium Experience in London, also had problems with not enough visitors.
Why The Big Idea Closed
By 2003, The Big Idea was struggling to pay its bills. This was because fewer and fewer people were visiting. A new, bigger science centre opened in Glasgow in 2001. This was closer for many people in central Scotland.
Brian Donohoe MP said that the Glasgow Science Centre opening was a big reason for The Big Idea's closure. He felt people would not travel past the bigger Glasgow centre to visit a similar one in Irvine.
The museum closed its doors in early 2003. It just couldn't attract enough visitors to stay open. Since then, it has mostly been left alone. This is because it's in a quiet spot and surrounded by private land. As of 2021, there are no plans for what will happen to the building.
