New York - After discovering the wreck of the Titanic in 1985, explorer Robert Ballard, who heads the Institute for Exploration at Mystic Aquarium, thought he knew most of the stories about the doomed ocean liner.

But while helping design the aquarium's new Titanic exhibit - slated to open April 12, just days before the 100th anniversary of the sinking - Ballard learned of the Guarantee Group.

This small group of people who helped build the ship in Northern Ireland were selected to go on the maiden voyage. All died in the sinking.

Until now, Ballard said, their families had not publicized their connection with the ship because they felt in some way ashamed and responsible for what had occurred. But Ballard recently went to Belfast and met with the families, who agreed to be interviewed for the first time.

"For me, this story has always been about the people, not the ship," Ballard said.

Those interviews are part of the new $2 million interactive Titanic exhibit now being constructed in the Mystic Aquarium's Challenge of the Deep attraction, which featured Ballard's many discoveries.

On Wednesday, Ballard unveiled the exhibit during a luncheon at the headquarters of the Explorer's Club, an elite society that counts many of the world's most famous adventurers, including Ballard, among its members.

While there will be a plenty of Titanic attractions this spring - the release of James Cameron's movie in 3D, traveling artifact shows - Ballard and exhibit designer Tim Delaney, a former Disney imagineer, said "Titanic - 12,450 feet Below" boasts something no other exhibit can: a recreation of the exact moment when Ballard found the wreck more than two miles down on the floor of the North Atlantic.

"The idea is to put you in my shoes as we were going through the process and get you to that moment of discovery," Ballard said.

With new footage and actual footage that was shot in the control room during the discovery, Ballard said, he will do just that.

"We feel we're the only ones that can tell that story," he said.

Ballard and Delaney first worked together on the design of the Living Seas Pavilion at the EPCOT theme park in Disney World 27 years ago.

At Wednesday's luncheon, Delaney walked the audience through the experience that visitors will have in the new exhibit.

He said they will enter a room designed to recreate the excitement and anticipation that surrounded the launch of the 882-foot-long Titanic. There will be recreation of a stateroom, people constructing the hull and flashing headlines about the liner.

Visitors will then enter a cold room compete with a starry night sky and large iceberg. Along the sides will be interactive displays and kiosks, and iceberg warnings will be heard.

"We're trying to create an exhibit about discovery and exploration by using discovery and exploration," Delaney said of the kiosks.

The next two rooms will feature digital images of the ship breaking apart, debris sinking to the bottom and the hull sections and debris field on the ocean floor.

"We want people to feel like they are in this environment," he said.

There's also a digital table where visitors can pull up all types of information about the ship.

"The delivery system we use has to be as exciting as the discovery," Delaney said. "Today, you have to make it interactive, you have to make it emotional and you have to tell a great story at the right time. That's our goal."

A recreation of a two-story engine room will show visitors the complexity of large machines. Visitors will see the actual discovery being made when they enter the Discovery Theater.

"We have great story in the Titanic and a great story in Bob Ballard," Delaney said.

While the exhibit will contain extensive high definition video and digital images from Ballard's 2004 return to the ship, it will not contain any artifacts, no tea cups or shoes such as other groups have recovered and displayed. It's a point Ballard talked passionately about Wednesday.

He has steadfastly opposed the recovery of artifacts from the ship, likening it taking items from Gettysburg or the USS Arizona.

"The ship went to the bottom first and then the bodies came raining down," he said.

Ballard said that by helping people experience the discovery, he hopes they will be encouraged to protect the world's oceans and what's in them.

"The deep sea is the largest museum on the planet, yet there's no lock on the door," he said.

Ballard said Delaney asked him to select 75 critical documents that he used to help make the discovery and which could be incorporated into the exhibit. Ballard said he spent 2½ weeks in the basement archives of his Lyme home, poring through thousands of pages until he found the most important 75.

"It brought it all back for me," said Ballard, who has been busy making other discoveries since finding the Titanic.

Ballard said the exhibit also has allowed him to reveal details about the discovery that, at the time, he could not discuss, such as how the Titanic search was really cover for a top secret military mission to find two sunken Navy submarines.

Although it's been 100 years since the Titanic went down and 27 since he discovered it, Ballard said, there's still something about the ship that captivates people.

"No matter your age, there's something about the Titanic story that pushes your buttons. I find it amazing that people are still fascinated by it," he said.

He added that over the years, he's found that the Titanic story is rediscovered by every generation.

"It never dies," he said.

j.wojtas@theday.com

HISTORICAL FARE

So what was on the luncheon menu Wednesday at the Explorer's Club?

Field green salad, poached salmon with Hollandaise sauce, asparagus, boiled potatoes and a miniature chocolate eclair for dessert.

Some of the same 11 items that were served aboard the Titanic the night it sank.