McKenna Children’s Museum

After roughly 18 years, the McKenna Children’s Museum partnered with Boss Display to breathe new life into their water gallery. The aim of the table was to preserve its precursor’s organic and immersive nature while incorporating new elements and local flavor, ensuring that this would remain one of their most popular exhibits. Interactives for the new exhibit drew inspiration from landmarks around New Braunfels, including a dance hall, a waterpark, a railroad museum, and river tubing on the Comal River. The resulting water table encourages young guests to engage with local scenery in a hands-on environment while exploring principles of fluid dynamics.

Project: New Braunfels Water Table

Location: New Braunfels, TX

Installed: May 2024

Giving nods to the local Railroad Museum, the train cars in this locomotive tippy bucket slowly fill with water and dump out on either side.

Bald Cypress Trees were incorporated into the table as a fun raining water source.

The Gruene Water Tower is represented in the table as a themed water vortex.

The water table is also unique in that it features larger filtration and chemical management that is housed behind the castle.

While giving the gallery a fresh look, it was important to maintain a similar table shape in order to match the existing infrastructure.

Laminar jets of water propel balls upwards into ramps that feed into adaptable aqueducts.

The alligator and fishing pond section of the table represents the local ecosystems supported by both the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers.

Handwheel operated whirlpools are built into the deck of the table and can be used by guests to create swirling disturbances in the flow of water.

This replica castle, dedicated to the city’s founder, doubles as a squirt gun gallery complete with spinning targets and an acrylic backsplash.

Visitors can launch balls into the vortex using the fixed ramps and laminar jets of water.