Best New Attraction (2020)

This new museum honors the athletes and ideals of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The 60,000-square-foot facility comprises 12 interactive galleries with some of the most accessible museum experiences in the world. Team USA athletes consulted on the project to ensure an authentic experience.
Photo courtesy of Jason O'Rear / U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum

This new attraction on the St. Petersburg waterfront offers 26 acres on the blue waters of Tampa Bay. The new pier features art installations, a marketplace, Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center, playground, lawn areas, a fishing deck, bars and restaurants.
Photo courtesy of VisitStPeteClearwater.com

The Forge: Lemont Quarries offers adventures for all ages in the form of ropes courses, climbing walls, ziplines and hiking and biking trails. The facility features a skills course for mountain biking, boat rentals, tactical laser tag and an AR outdoor escape room.
Photo courtesy of The Forge: Lemont Quarries

This new aquarium tells the story of aquatic life in Mississippi, from the eponymous river to the Delta to the Gulf of Mexico coastline. Visitors can see North American river otters, crocodiles, sharks, rays and penguins.
Photo courtesy of Mississippi Aquarium

The MassArt Art Museum (MAAM) is Boston’s newest contemporary art museum. The collection opened along the Avenue of the Arts as a free attraction where artists at all stages of their careers can showcase their work.
Photo courtesy of Will Howcroft / MassArt Art Museum

This new museum at the historic Franklin School in Washington, DC celebrates language in all its forms. The world’s first voice-activated museum features interactive galleries that tell the story of how we learn to speak our first language, where words come from and the diversity of the world’s languages.
Photo courtesy of DuHon Photography / Planet Word

Electric Playhouse brings an all new digital entertainment experience to Albuquerque. The immersive, projection-based play arena doesn’t require VR goggles to control the 18 interactive areas.
Photo courtesy of Electric Playhouse

This new memorial in Washington, DC honors the military service of Native Americans. The memorial sits on the grounds of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall and includes water for sacred ceremonies, lances where visitors can tie cloths for prayer and benches for reflection. The memorial was designed by Harvey Pratt (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma) from among more than 120 submissions.
Photo courtesy of Alan Karchmer for NMAI

The National Museum of the United States Army tells the story of more than 245 years of the Army and our nation’s soldiers from the Army, Army Reserve and the Army National Guard. Admission is free, and exhibits cover topics like the Cold War, World Wars I and II, soldiers’ stories and the founding of America.
Photo courtesy of National Museum of the United States Army / Duane Lempke

This new museum showcases the world’s largest private collection of military vehicles. The 140,000-square-foot space features 432 vehicles plus more than 200 historically significant firearms.
Photo courtesy of National Museum of Military Vehicles