There is a theater, woodworking shop, miniature railroad, lapidary studio and low-cost classes in everything from "Zen and Sawdust" to "Creepy Crawlies." The Randall is equal parts art and science. "For a lot of kids, it's a real place of discovery. "I was just thrilled," said Treanor, 54, who's been a full-time ceramics instructor at the museum for three decades. The museum fed that obsession, time and again. It's the kind of place where Dennis Treanor started coming as a 7-year-old boy obsessed with fossils and dinosaurs. The museum is the kind of place where you can make a clay pot, build a telescope or watch a giant water bug, of the male variety, carry dozens of eggs on his back. It's not just a building on a hill anymore. "Every time I come now, I'm awed at the sight. "I've been here 20-plus years," Dawson said. The museum's transformation gives visitors a chance to enjoy a view that rivals the Top of the Mark's - minus the $10 martinis - sweeping from the Transamerica Pyramid to Twin Peaks, with the East Bay and Mount Diablo as a backdrop. The moat has been replaced with an "art patio," observation deck, small amphitheater and "learning gardens." "It was an asphalt moat," said museum director Amy Dawson. ![]() ![]() On Saturday, at the Randall's free Spring Festival, the museum will take a huge step in that direction by dedicating its $2.3 million Outdoor Learning Environment - formerly a parking lot and paved driveway. "A lot of people know it as 'that hill you can see from other places,' " said John Dillon, natural science curator at the Randall.
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