Titanic docks at Science Center

What is it about the Titanic that captures the American imagination?

Ten years after the blockbuster film about the supposedly unsinkable ship became the highest grossing movie of all time, and 95 years after the ship plunged into the icy northern Atlantic, the Arizona Science Center expects to pack in crowds for a Titanic exhibit opening Saturday.

This is actually the second time the exhibit, which runs through May 4, comes to the center, says Chevy Humphrey, president and chief executive officer. Last time around, in 2002, about 320,000 visitors viewed the exhibit. The center expects 100,000 in the next six months.

“It’s the most requested exhibit that we’ve ever had,” she says. “It’s just one people keep asking me about.”

People personally relate to the exhibit, which fills a 10,000 square-foot gallery with more than 260 artifacts from the wreckage, re-created passenger’s quarters and an iceberg. The show is designed to help people make the connection that the tragedy happened to real people, says Kristin Priscella, the center’s director of marketing and pubic relations.

Visitors are given a boarding pass with the name of a passenger and a brief biography. At the end, they find out if their passenger was one of the few who survived.

“I think that really helps people connect,” Priscella says. “You’re going through the exhibit as that person, seeing what china they might have used, what clothes they may have worn.”

The fact that items such as paper, suitcases and clothing have survived underwater for nearly 100 years is amazing to people. “Just to know these aren’t re-creations, these are actual artifacts, things people brought on board with them, planning to take off with them, makes an impression,” Priscella says.

One showcase, which features paper money and coins found inside a wallet strewn amongst the debris, never fails to get people’s hands in their pockets.

“They pull out a dollar bill and compare it,” Priscella says.

The experience culminates at the iceberg where visitors enter a dark room and see a starry sky and bright, white chunk of ice.

“They’re actually allowed to touch something and they can feel what those passengers felt,” Priscilla says. “Most of the passengers died of hypothermia ­— not drowning — so they can feel what that must have been like.”

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition

When: Opens Saturday; through May 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Where: Arizona Science Center, 600 E. Washington St., Phoenix

Cost: $10 member or $20 nonmember for adults, over 18. $9 member or $16 nonmember for children between 13 and 18 senior citizens and college students. $8 member or $15 nonmembers for Children 3 to 12. Audio tours available for an additional $5.

Information: (602) 716-2000 or www.azscience.org

Memorial: The museum will set up a memorial to Titanic survivor Barbara West Dainton, who died recently at age 96. A book will be available for visitors to write condolences to her family.