• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Education / New Science Center of Iowa opens

New Science Center of Iowa opens

May 14, 2005 By admin

Five years in the planning, the new Science Center of Iowa opens its doors today (Saturday) in Des Moines, promising to strengthen critical thinking skills through hands-on experiences. Sally Dix, spokeswoman for the 62-million-dollar center, says there’s little comparison to the old facility, which opened in 1970. At 110-thousand square feet, the new facility is nearly four times larger than the original Science Center of Iowa and contains three theaters, not just one, along with seven exhibit galleries instead of just two. The new building, located on the edge of downtown Des Moines, has a massive planetarium with features unlike any other in the U.S. There are eight different operating modes, not just the traditional sit-in-a-seat and watch a pre-programmed show. Beanbag chairs can be spread around or visitors can use what’s called the “Cosmic Jukebox” in which they create and play their own planetarium show inside the 50-foot dome, the only experience of its kind in the nation. Dix says the new Science Center also boasts what’s now Iowa’s largest IMAX theatre. The IMAX is a 220-seat theater that features the world’s largest film format projected on a six-story domed screen and a 12-thousand watt digital sound system. Opening films include “The Living Sea” and “Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey.” The new science center is expected to attract 300-thousand people from across Iowa in its first year, and easily a million over three years. Dix says there are seven major exhibit areas in the new facility, though they’re not usually called exhibits. They’re “experience platforms” as exhibits might conjure images of things that are only to be viewed. Dix says the platforms involve various ways for visitors to “get their hands dirty” and to experience hands-on science. The new Science Center of Iowa contains 63 toilets including the only fully functional clear toilet in the entire U.S. For more information, surf to “www.sciowa.org”.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Education

Featured Stories

Governor ends public airing of state agency budget requests

Former Manchester hospital CEO given suspended 10-year sentence

After 70 years, southwest Iowa woman files final ‘Up a Country Lane’ column

Sioux City residents can once again own pit bulls

Meth use in Iowa surges; all-time high number seek treatment

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Iowa State’s Campbell agrees to contract extension

Epenesa and Duncan honored by B1G

Iowa’s Nunge sidelined by knee injury

State board proposes changes for sports eligibility, creation of summer dead period

Iowa’s Epenesa honored by B1G

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2019 · Learfield News & Ag, LLC