Mall Crawlers : Natural History Museum Opens at Burbank Shopping Center

The reactions of hordes of children to the new satellite branch of the county’s Natural History Museum were concise, though not particularly eloquent:

Gross!

Eeeeeuuuuu!

Ick!

In short, it was a hit.

The children--and some slightly squeamish parents--were reacting to “Backyard Monsters: The World of Insects,” the opening exhibit of the $2-million facility in Burbank. Dozens of onlookers, from toddlers to senior citizens, streamed into the modern two-story, 12,500-square-foot facility in the Media City Center after a civic ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday morning.

The satellite branch, the first of its kind in the county, is intended to bring the museum’s immense collection from Exposition Park to outlying areas.

“Backyard Monsters” features giant animated models of ants, a spider and a praying mantis--there’s a beetle the size of a Toyota--along with real insects for children to pet and inspect. From their squeals and gasps, it was clear they loved every minute of it.

Well, some of them did.

Several children cowered behind their parents’ legs, out of sight of a robotic plastic scorpion that clicked its claws menacingly.

“It’s not alive,” Irma Gutierrez reassured her 4-year-old daughter Vicki, pushing her toward the scorpion.

“Nooooo!” Vicki wailed, running to a display case filled with unintimidating Brazilian butterflies.

Melanie Caudillo, 8, was looking at the case when a collection of big black beetles caught her eye. “Look at that one, it’s huuuuuuuuuge,” she said to her mother, Mercy.

“Eeeeeuu,” Mercy Caudillo said. “Imagine it crawling on your face.”

As the Caudillos toured the jam-packed room, a floppy green praying mantis--with obviously human legs--bobbed its way through the crowd, giggling children in tow.

The outfit of dense neoprene eventually took its toll, and a perspiring teen-age museum employee emerged from the squishy rubber cocoon for a breather after an hour. But soon the half-man, half-mantis was back, stalking about the mall to lure shoppers to the museum.

Other museum employees--including one with a button reading “Bugs, Not Drugs”--brought out an assortment of real critters for the brave to examine.

Vincent Maniaci, an exterminator on weekdays and insect-loving docent in his spare time, held an 18-year-old tarantula named Connie--they really get that old--in his hand for the spellbound children to touch.

“She’s really shy, but she’s harmless,” Maniaci said. Some children stroked the arresting arachnid, but most adults kept a respectful distance.

A few mothers looked on worriedly as their sons took a morbid interest in the flea and mosquito exhibits. Leah Wilmore of Burbank was just thankful she had found a new place for her 5-year-old son, Chase, to explore.

“Yesterday we went to the zoo, which he loved, and I thought I’d bring him here today while he was feeling inspired,” Leah Wilmore said, watching him color pictures of insects in the upstairs Discovery Center, where curious kids can play games, read books and examine bones and shells.

“It’s ideal to have this right here in our own back yard, so we don’t have to drive all the way to downtown L. A.,” said Wilmore, who lives just a few blocks away.

Many of the adults expressed similar feelings. “The other science museum is downtown, and we just don’t go down there,” said Tom Sesma, who took along his girlfriend’s son, Ronnie Wong. “It’s great to have a museum here where people can stop in and shop in the mall as well.”

The giant insects, on display through Sept. 12, will be replaced by other traveling exhibits. Some portions of the museum, such as the Discovery Center, are permanent.

The idea for the museum-in-a-mall began with the Alexander Haagen Co., the developer that constructed the 41-acre Media City Center at Third Street and Magnolia Boulevard. To get city permits to build the center, the builder agreed to provide space for a museum.

Haagen Co. contacted Burbank officials, and when county Supervisor Mike Antonovich got involved, he provided a link to the Natural History Museum, said Mary Ann Dunn, the administrator of the Burbank museum.

“This is a pilot museum that came together because of a good partnership,” Dunn said. “It’s unique and we don’t know if this will be happening anywhere else.”

But Chase Wilmore didn’t care that the museum was the first of its kind.

“This is really fun. We’ve gotta come back,” Chase said. “It’s more fun than home.”