A symphony in beige polyester, the Enterprise-D's expansive bridge now resides at a new California venue. The Sci-Fi World Museum will open its doors May 27 to backers and in June to the general public. Ars Technica's Jonathan M. Gitlin charts an unusually difficult and time-consuming restoration that began more than a decade ago.
When Ars checked in with the Enterprise-D bridge restoration in 2014, the science-fiction museum plan had taken shape. But that change of plans did not sit well with some of the project's original supporters, particularly after an imperfect re-creation of the captain's chair—which remained lost until recently—was sold on eBay.
Things got even uglier in 2018 when Huston Huddleston, who led the project, was arrested and then convicted for possessing child pornography. Although Huddleston still appears listed as the project's CEO on its Kickstarter page, that appears to be an artifact of its creation, and John Purdy is listed as the CEO of the Sci-Fi World Museum on its About Us page.
Alas, you won't get to nestle your cheeks atop the homeopathic residue of Sir Patrick's beer farts: the set is a replica, albeit one overseen by original production designers Michael Okuda and Herman Zimmerman.
Previously: Tour every Star Trek Enterprise bridge in new interactive web portal from Roddenberry Archive
