“Remember, 750,000 visitors come to Ashbourne every year to spend a day at Tayto Park. Most of them then go home. If an attraction of interest to the same market were available close-by, it would increase the overall number of visitors and also turn one day visits into multiple day stays with overnights. Think of what that would do for the Hotels, Restaurants, Pubs, Retail and other businesses in Ashbourne”
The STEAM Park is the largest and most ambitious proposals within the FutureVision Zone. A long-term project calling for investment and participation on at least a National scale, it’s priority contribution is in the Educational sphere. It will. like all projects associated with the Park, make a contribution to Community-building. That being said, it has a powerful commercial rationale – see The Business Case for the Park. The essence of the Commercial argument is that it provides a complementary attraction that will appeal to the same market segment that delivers 750k visitors to Tayto Park every year (famnilies with children), and that its existence will multiply Ashbourne’s earnings from this market many times over.
The STEAM Park will consist of five detached, self-contained units, each of which will likely develop its own ‘existence’. By this we mean that it will focus on its own discipline (Science, Maths etc.), it will devise and work to its own plans and it will seek out and establish linkages to similar organisations and sources of knowledge, both at home and globally. Each units function will be to inform, to educate and to do so that is appealing and entertaining to both its primary and secondary audiences (Children and Parents). There will be an emphasis on Teaching and Teaching methods. It is not intended that discipline-related research would be conducted here, but it would be imperative that the unit keep abreast of developments in its field and that the Exhibition content be continually refreshed (Annual or Seasonal Themes, special Exhibits, etc.).
Each of the five units will comprise three functions – Exhibition area, Teaching area and Research area, as illustrated:
There are many examples of Centres that address one or more of the five disciplines featuring in our plan. Some examples of them are illustrated below. To the best of our knowledge there is no single-site that addresses all five steam subjects anywhere. Given the existing drawing power of Tayto Park, and the geographic advantages of Ashbourne (City, Airport this is an opportunity that rarely comes the way of mortals.