Kentucky Science Center

Front facade of the Kentucky Science Center in Downtown Louisville

The Kentucky Science Center, previously known as the Louisville Museum of Natural History & Science and then Louisville Science Center, is Kentucky's largest hands-on science museum. Located in Louisville, Kentucky's "Museum Row" in the West Main District of downtown, the museum operates as a non-profit organization. It was founded in 1871 as a natural history collection, and now more than half a million people visit the museum annually. More students in Kentucky take field trips to the Kentucky Science Center than to any other destination.

The entrance to the Science Center before its renaming

There are about 550,000 visitors annually. A special hands-on area for children younger than seven was renovated and renamed KidZone in 1998, featuring six educational activity areas.

The building itself is located at 727 West Main Street, and takes up 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m²). This includes a four-story digital theater, built in 1988 with a renovation in early 2014, in which three million people have seen at least one of the 45 different films shown there. The distinctive cast-iron facade limestone building was originally built in 1878 as a dry goods warehouse. The city purchased the building in 1975 and the museum moved into the premises in 1977, subsequently winning several design awards for its preservation of an older building.

The lobby area; the pendulum has been a fixture of the building for decades.

On January 11, 2007 it was announced that the Kentucky Science Center would acquire the Alexander Building which was built in 1880 and is adjacent to the current buildings.

In 2009 the center opened a Science Education Wing on the building's first floor. The wing includes four science-workshop labs equipped for "hands-on participation".^[1] The five-story Alexander Building totals nearly 37,000 square feet (3,400 m²).

See also

• Tchaenhotep — a Third Intermediate Period mummy owned by the center
• List of attractions and events in the Louisville metropolitan area

References

External links

• Official site

Museums in Kentucky
Art	Kentucky Folk Art Center Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft Museum of the American Quilter's Society Speed Art Museum University of Kentucky Art Museum
Aviation	Aviation Museum of Kentucky
Biographical	Bill Monroe Museum General George Patton Museum of Leadership Muhammad Ali Center Rosemary Clooney Museum U.S. 23 Country Music Highway Museum Whitney Young Birthplace and Museum
History	Adsmore Ashland Bardstown Historical Museum Barthell Coal Mining Camp Big Sandy Heritage Center Blue Heron Coal Mining Camp Bluegrass Heritage Museum Civil War Museum Coal Miners' Museum David A. Zegeer Coal-Railroad Museum Don F. Pratt Memorial Museum Federal Hill F.M. Stafford House Frazier History Museum Harland Sanders Café and Museum Highlands Museum and Discovery Center Historic Locust Grove Hunt-Morgan House James A. Ramage Civil War Museum Kentucky Coal Mining Museum Lexington History Center Magoffin County Pioneer Village and Museum Mary Todd Lincoln House McCreary County Museum Mountain Homeplace Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History Portland Museum Riverside, The Farnsley-Moremen Landing Samuel May House Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History Thomas Edison House
Rail	Bluegrass Railroad and Museum Elkhorn City Railroad Museum The Historic Railpark and Train Museum Kentucky Railway Museum Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati
Religious	Creation Museum Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill Shaker Museum at South Union
Science & technology	East Kentucky Science Center Kentucky Science Center Kentucky River Museum National Corvette Museum
Sports	Kentucky Derby Museum Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory
Miscellaneous	Callahan Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind Cumberland Inn Museum International Bluegrass Music Museum Garrard County Jail Museum Vent Haven Museum

Coordinates: 38°15′27″N 85°45′46″W / 38.257638°N 85.762687°W / 38.257638; -85.762687