Aheritage centre,center, ormuseum, is a public facility – typically amuseum,monument,visitor centre, orpark – that is primarily dedicated to the presentation ofhistorical andcultural information about a place and its people, and often also including, to some degree, the area'snatural history. Heritage centres typically differ from most traditional museums in featuring a high proportion of "hands-on" exhibits and live or lifelikespecimens and practicalartifacts.[1]
Some areopen-air museums –heritage parks – devoted to depiction of daily life or occupational activity at a particular time and place, and may feature re-creations of typical buildings of an era. Such sites are often used forexperimental archaeology, and as shooting locations fordocumentaries andhistorical-fiction films and television. A few are rebuiltarchaeological sites, using theexcavated foundations of original buildings, some restore historic structures that were not yet lost, while others are mock-ups built near actual sites ofhistoric value (which may still be subject to ongoing excavation, study, and preservation). Many also haveliving museum features, such as costumed staff, demonstrations of and short courses in historical craft-working, dramatic presentations (live-action mock combat, etc.), and otherliving history activities. Others may be more narrowly focused on a particular occupation or industry, such as rail transport or the early factories or mines around which a community developed.
The distinction between a heritage centre or park, and a history-basedtheme park can become blurred, as atNikko Edomura, focused onFeudal Japan, andWild West City, a self-described "heritage theme park" about the AmericanOld West.