The museum was open to the public and functioned as an educational institution with an annual visitation of over 100,000 students from schools. Peak public visitation coincided with school holidays. Refurbishment plans for the museum began in 1984 to coincide with the Bicentennial planned for 1988. The opening of the refurbished museum was delayed until 1991 and rebranded as The Earth Exchange with a board of trustees including business and mining interests.