St. Louis Science Center
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The St. Louis Science Center is a science museum with its facilities in St. Louis, Missouri and a member of the Association of Science and Technology Centers. It is among the largest of its type and, like all science centers, is intended to be a place of informal science education for all ages.
The Science Center campus is made up of four buildings. The James S. McDonnell Planetarium, found in Forest Park, a newer building (often called the main building) across Interstate 64 (Highway 40) at 5050 Oakland Avenue, the Exploradome, an air-supported building next to the main building, and the Taylor Community Science Resource Center at 4900 Manchester Avenue, 2 blocks south of the main building.
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[edit] History
The St. Louis Science Center was originally founded by an organization called the Academy of Science of St. Louis as the Museum of Science and Natural History in 1959 at a facility in Clayton's Oak Knoll Park.
In 1983, the museum chose to expand its facilities to the James S. McDonnell Planetarium, then owned by the City. After over a year of remodeling, on July 20, 1985, the planetarium reopened as the St. Louis Science Center.
[edit] McDonnell Planetarium
The James S. McDonnell Planetarium was named after James Smith McDonnell, an aviation pioneer and co-founder of St. Louis-based McDonnell Douglas aerospace manufacturer. The planetarium was designed by Gyo Obata of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum and first opened in 1963. In the 1980s and 1990s, the planetarium housed a Digistar 1 digital star projector, made by Evans & Sutherland. In January of 2000, the planetarium closed for renovations, and reopened on June 22, 2001 fitted with the world's fourth Zeiss Universarium Mark IX star projector.
Besides the star projector, the McDonnell Planetarium now contains the StarPort, designed to approximate what a space station might look like in the near future. This section is mainly dedicated to outer space and astronomy-related programs and exhibits.
[edit] The Main Building
As part of a $34 million expansion, a new building opened across from the planetarium south of highway 40/64 on November 2, 1991. The building, designed by E. Verner Johnson and Associates, includes the Omnimax, now called IMAX Dome, theater. A pedestrian overpass connects the two buildings and offers scientific insight into bridges, highways, and radar guns.
[edit] The Exploradome
On February 8, 1997, the Exploradome was added primarily for traveling exhibitions and hosting large group events.
[edit] Taylor Community Science Resource Center
Located at 4900 Manchester Avenue, the Taylor Community Science Resource Center (TCSRC) opened in 2003, and is known by many as "the taylor building". The building was donated by Jack Taylor, founder of Enterprise Rent-A-Car and houses programs such as the YES Program, a mentoring program for urban teens. The TCSRC also houses administrative offices for several departments at the science center.
[edit] Admission and exhibits
Like its fellow museums in Forest Park, the Science Center offers free admission, a distinction held by only two science museums in the country. There is a charge for parking at the main building, but parking at the Forest Park lot at the McDonnell Planetarium is free. There are fees for special exhibits, such as Lego Mindstorms in Cyberville, Omnimax, Discovery Room, the McDonnell Planetarium shows, and special exhibits and exhibitions. The Science Center is open every day except for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The main building consists of four levels. The Earth Science (Ecology and Environment) gallery is located on the lower level along with meeting rooms, CenterStage (shows and a daily "Science goes Splat" gravity drop.), birthday party rooms, and May Hall, used as a banquet room and for special exhibits and talks. The first floor contains the Life Science areas, more Ecology and Environment, Amazing Science Demonstration Lab, the main entrance, ExploreStore gift shop, food court, Energizer human hamster wheel, and Exploradome entrance. Computer gallery (Cyberville), Structures gallery, Discovery room for young children and their parents, the bridge and tunnel/connection to the planetarium, and Omnimax Movie Theater are on the second Floor. Wheelchair Omnimax access, Omnimax exit, and offices are located on the third. All three floors contain the Energizer Ball Machine which is also three stories high.
[edit] Visitor Attractions
- LEGO Mindstorm Robots
- Omnimax Theater
- Planetarium
- Public Galleries
- Special Exhibits
[edit] Public Programs
- Segway Classes
- Segway Forest Park Tours (seasonal, May-Oct)
- Science Cafe Discussion Groups
- Camp-Ins
- Amazing Science Demonstrations
- Free Public Telescope Viewing Sessions (2nd Fridays of the month, except November & December)
[edit] External links
- Saint Louis Science Center homepage
- Saint Louis Science Center's Cyberville Blog
- Saint Louis Science Center on Myspace
- McDonnell Planetarium information at St. Louis Front Page.com
- St. Louis Science Center is at coordinates Coordinates:
- Science Center News News from Science Centers around the US.
- Saint Louis Science Center News
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