Saint Louis Science Center

The Saint Louis Science Center, founded as a planetarium in 1963, is a collection of buildings including a science museum and planetarium in St. Louis, Missouri, on the southeastern corner of Forest Park. With over 750 exhibits in a complex of over , it is among the largest of its type in the United States.

== James S. McDonnell Planetarium ==

thumb|The James S. McDonnell Planetarium, built in 1963 and featuring a [[thin-shell structure|thin-shell and hyperboloid structure by Gyo Obata. This building is one of the most distinctive components of the Saint Louis Science Center campus.]]

Funding for the first structure of the current campus began in 1955, with $1 million of a $110 million city bond issue specified for the construction of a planetarium. Two years were spent surveying locations. The first proposed site, on the northern side of Forest Park near the Jefferson Memorial Building at Lindell and DeBaliviere, was scrapped because of restrictions on subdivisions. The location was changed to the southern part of the park, on the site of the old mounted police station, which was demolished in 1960. The plan was to build a planetarium, science museum, and natural history museum.

The McDonnell Planetarium is home to a ZEISS UNIVERSARIUM Mark IX Star Projector. Installed in 2001, this machine is one of only three in the United States and thirteen in the world. The unusual request for an "open" planetarium theater called of the extremely bright stellar projections, a challenge outstandingly mastered by ZEISS fiber-optic projectors.

Science Center

thumb|Dinosaur diorama on the lower level

thumb|The skybridge crosses Interstate 64 between the main building and the planetarium

In 1972, the Museum of Science and Natural History, located in Oak Knoll Park in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton, began to receive funds from sales tax through the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District. In 1983, the museum purchased the Planetarium from the city, and closed it for remodeling. On July 20, 1985, the Planetarium reopened as the Saint Louis Science Center. Within two months, the newly remodeled St. Louis Science Center became the most visited science center in the world.

thumb|Energizer Ball Machine in lobby of main building

Exploradome and GROW

On February 8, 1997, an air-supported building was added to the main building, the Exploradome. With an additional , it was intended as a temporary facility for traveling exhibitions, additional classrooms, and to host large group events. Notable exhibits have included shows on the RMS Titanic ocean liner and Body Worlds, a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies. The Exploradome was deflated to make way for a planned expansion after 16 years of operations on June 24, 2013.

In 2016, the museum’s largest major addition in 25 years was completed. The new exhibit space was designed by St. Louis-based design firm Arcturis with Gyo Obata brought on as a consultant. Called GROW, the project’s centerpiece is a 5,000 square foot permanent pavilion that has a flexible, open floor plan that houses ever-changing exhibits and events. Its primary focus is the story of agriculture and the many ways technology is shaping the agricultural landscape.

Exhibitions

Mcdonnell planetarium slsc.jpg|The Mcdonnell planetarium

Saint Louis Science Center T-Rex lower level.jpg|Lower level exhibits

Saint Louis Science Center ag area.jpg|Creative commons area

Saint Louis Science Center Missouri map.jpg|Missouri map

Saint Louis Science Center GROW signage.jpg|GROW sign 2022

</gallery>

WeatherReadyFest

The 2018 WeatherReadyFest event was held at the St. Louis Science Center featuring talks, demonstrations and displays from the National Weather Service and other government and private agencies.

Washington University in St. Louis CCSN Outreach

Washington University students participating in the Cognitive, Computational and Systems Neuroscience (CCSN) pathway have created a series of exhibitions displayed at the St. Louis Science Center in an outreach program since the pathway's inception in 2008.

References

External links

Saint Louis Science Center Homepage