REACH Museum — Attraction in Richland

The displays were amazing, but I was disappointed in the staff and the way they treated our group. The staff was grumpy, impatient and didn’t know how to interact with children at all. We specifically scheduled a field trip for our group of elementary and middle school aged children hoping for an amazing experience to teach this group of kids all about our area and it’s amazing natural resources. We were the only group in the whole facility, but the staff were very stringent on masks (we were told that those with medical exemptions were not allowed to come in), did not appreciate the kids visiting with each other even though the kids were being respectful and age appropriate, and when the younger children began to jump around on the open cement floor space, we were asked to take them outside. When a few of us moms took the little kids outside, the staff then came and criticized us for leaving our older middle school aged children inside without their parent, even though other group parents were with them. When we took our whole group outside, we ate a picnic lunch on the lawn and cement blocks. A staff member then came outside and scolded the children for sitting on the cement blocks and told them that she would be inspecting to see if there was any damage… to the cement blocks???? I will never bring my children back here ever again and I will strongly discourage any friends or schools from ever holding field trips here. It apparently is meant for only older adults who can either not speak the whole time or only whisper. It felt more like a staunch library than an engaging learning environment. Not suited for elementary or middle school...

The REACH Museum is a great complement to a visit to the Hanford Reach National Monument Wildlife and Wildflower Refuge, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). The LIGO is one of only 3 operational gravity wave observatories on earth, and in the past 5 years it has made Nobel-Prize-Winning observations of colliding black holes and neutron stars. LIGO has monthly public tours and you can schedule a tour for any group of 15. Very kid friendly. The Manhattan Project tour takes you to the B Reactor, the first production nuclear reactor in the world, which made the plutonium for the Trinity test explosion and the Nagasaki Fat Man bomb. These two facilities have confirmed Einstein's Special and General Theories of Relativity. A theoretical physicist whose work connecys both sites was John Wheeler, a Princeton professor who worked on the B Reactor and who worked on the theoretical framework for gravity wave detection, inspiring the creation of the LIGO by some of his former students. The REACH Museum tells the fascinating story of the violent geological events that created the Mid-Columbia landscape, from deep lava flows to gigantic Ice Age floods, and the unique features of the region that made it ideal for the creation of Plutonium for WW II and the Cold War. The need to safely store and confine highly radioactive wastes from that heritage is calling forth a new scientific and engineering project, costing $2 billion a year, employing over...

Nice small museum to take family to explore and learn about the region, unfortunately the front desk staff member did not seem very friendly and welcoming .She had a strong tone in voice about how much time we had left to tour museum and gave us a time we needed to be done before the museums regular closing time, it made us feel rushed and un-welcomed at the moment. If it would have been directed differently it would have not bothered me at all and I would have been understanding of time frame, it was more of the annoyed upset tone in her voice that was unsettling .I was very close to addressing the issue , but thought she may just be having a bad day and decide not to make it worse. Will consider going back to visit and hopefully having a better experience. Maybe a meeting with staff about how to communicate better with customers , would be...