Discovery Place planned night at the museum sleepover. Then the fire marshal found out

It seemed like a fun idea for the adventurous, science-minded set: a grownups-only sleepover at Discovery Place Science, complete with a tour of the new Antarctic Dinosaurs exhibit, a viewing of IMAX “Dinosaurs of Antarctica,” late night snacks and a continental breakfast at dawn.

And then the fire marshal found out. Now, everybody has to stay home.

The Charlotte science museum has hosted numerous sleepovers for scout troops and other kids-and-adults groups for decades without incident. But museum officials never realized the events violated the building’s occupancy code, Discovery Place spokeswoman Kristen Swing said.

This sleepover, however, got buzz in social media channels — especially those popular with young professionals — and raised the eyebrows of the county’s code enforcers.

“It sounds like ultimately what happened is somebody saw it that knows the ins and outs of the classification and the fire marshal reached out to us and said, ‘You’re not actually allowed to have people spend the night,’ “ Swing said. “We’re all about following the rules and the letter of the law.”

James Meyers, a senior fire inspector whose jurisdiction includes uptown, said Discovery Place has an “assembly” occupancy classification, which means it can be used for gathering purposes. It would need to have a “residential” classification in order to house people overnight.

“You want to safeguard where someone is sleeping,” he said.

Meyers said he was never aware of overnight events at Discovery Place, but “there have been reports recently in the news, and if we see it, we have to address it.”

‘It’s a bummer’

Tickets for the event were going for $105 each.

Swing said fewer than 50 of the 200 tickets available had already sold for the Feb. 21-22 event, which also included a drink ticket, a DIY explorer lamp, science experiments and karaoke. (Refunds have been issued to those who already registered.)

Swing said she’s hopeful the museum and fire marshal will find a way to make 21-and-over sleepovers a go in the future. Guests would have been able to set up their sleeping bags along the first floor of the museum, snooze with fish at their feet in the aquarium space, or catch some zzzs around the water table in the kids’ play area.

“We were excited to try something new,” Swing said. “ It’s a bummer for us.”

This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 11:59 AM.