St. Louis Science Center
Encyclopedia
Science museum
A science museum or a science centre is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in museology have broadened the range of...
and planetarium
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, on the southeastern corner of Forest Park. The Planetarium opened in 1963, and it was expanded and renamed as the Saint Louis Science Center in 1983. According to the Association of Science and Technology Centers, the Saint Louis Science Center is one of the top 5 science centers in the United States. In 1991, it was the most visited science center in the world. With over 750 exhibits in a complex of over 300000 square foot, it is among the largest of its type in the country. As of 2007, the complex hosts 1.2 million visitors each year, with another 200,000 served through offsite programs at schools and community centers.
The first building of the current complex, the Planetarium, opened in 1963, hosting about 300,000 visitors per year. In 1983, it was combined with an existing Museum of Science and Natural History that had been located in Clayton, Missouri
Clayton, Missouri
Clayton is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis and the county seat of St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 15,939 at the 2010 census. The city was organized in 1877 and is named after Ralph Clayton, who donated the land for the courthouse.-Geography:...
, and the Planetarium was renamed as the Saint Louis Science Center. In 1991, a major expansion increased the size of the facility seven-fold, adding a main building and Omnimax
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
theater across Interstate 40
Interstate 40
Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...
from the Planetarium. In 1997, an air-supported building, the Exploradome, was added next to the main building, and in 2003, a Community Science Resource Center southeast of the main building was added to the complex. The northern and southern sections of the Science Center are connected via a pedestrian bridge over the interstate, which also has science exhibits, such as radar gun
Radar gun
A radar speed gun is a small doppler radar unit used to measure the speed of moving objects, including vehicles, pitched baseballs, runners and other moving objects. Radar speed guns may be hand-held, vehicle-mounted or static...
s which visitors can use to investigate traffic patterns.
Admission to the Science Center is free through a public subsidy from the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District
Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District
The Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District or ZMD is a cultural tax district in St. Louis City and St. Louis County, Missouri. The district has five subdistricts, these being the St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis Science Center, Missouri History Museum, and Missouri...
. The Center is one of only two science centers in the United States which offers free general admission.
History
The roots of the Science Center date back to the mid-1800s, when a group of wealthy and well-traveled businessmen founded the Academy of Science of Saint Louis in 1856, along with a museum in which to display their collections of cultural artifacts, scientific items, and collected flora and fauna. Over the next century, this grew into a more formal Museum of Science and Natural History which in 1959 was located in Oak Knoll Park in Clayton, MissouriClayton, Missouri
Clayton is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis and the county seat of St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 15,939 at the 2010 census. The city was organized in 1877 and is named after Ralph Clayton, who donated the land for the courthouse.-Geography:...
.
McDonnell Planetarium
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, with the first proposed site being on the northern side of Forest Park, near the Jefferson Memorial BuildingMissouri History Museum
The Missouri History Museum is located in St. Louis, Missouri in Forest Park. The museum is operated by the Missouri Historical Society and was founded in 1866...
at Lindell and DeBaliviere. This site was scrapped due to restrictions on subdivisions, so the location was instead changed to the southern part of the Park (the building's current location), on the site of the old mounted police
Mounted police
Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. They continue to serve in remote areas and in metropolitan areas where their day-to-day function may be picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and...
station, which was demolished in 1960. The original intent was for the new site to include a planetarium, science museum, and natural history museum.
Gyo Obata
Gyo Obata is a significant American architect, the son of renowned painter Chiura Obata and his wife, Haruko Obata, a floral designer. In 1955, he co-founded global architectural firm HOK . He lives in St. Louis, Missouri and still works in HOK's St. Louis office...
of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum
Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum
HOK is a global architecture, interiors, engineering, planning and consulting firm. HOK is the largest U.S.-based architecture-engineering firm and the "No. 1 role model for sustainable and high-performance design." HOK also is the second-largest interior design firm...
with a unique shape (Obata was later tasked in the 1970s with designing the Smithsonian
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
's National Air and Space Museum
National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world. It was established in 1976. Located in Washington, D.C., United States, it is a center for research into the history and science of aviation and...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
). Architectural Forum
Architectural Forum
Architectural Forum was an American magazine that covered the home-building industry and architecture. Started in 1892, it absorbed the magazine Architect's world in October 1938, and ceased publication in 1974.-Other titles:...
magazine described it as, "Looking like some strange craft spun down to earth from outer space... St. Louis's new planetarium perches gracefully on a rise in ... Forest Park". Funding for the construction of the planetarium became a difficulty though, as the bond issue funds were not adequate. James Smith McDonnell
James Smith McDonnell
James Smith "Mac" McDonnell was an American aviation pioneer and founder of McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, later McDonnell Douglas.-Early life:...
(1899–1980), an aviation pioneer and co-founder of St. Louis-based McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It formed from a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft in 1967. McDonnell Douglas was based at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport...
, an aerospace manufacturer
Aerospace manufacturer
An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft....
, came to the project's rescue, donating $200,000 for equipment such as the planetarium's star projector. The official opening day was April 1, 1963, and the first star show that month had a capacity audience of over 400 attendees. The building's dedication was on May 30, 1963. Public interest in the space race
Space Race
The Space Race was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national...
was high, as John Glenn
John Glenn
John Herschel Glenn, Jr. is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program as a member of NASA's original...
had just become the first American to orbit the Earth, in February 1962. Within four months of the Science Center's opening, over 100,000 visitors were recorded. On the day that a full-scale of the Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
space capsule was put on display, 3,000 visitors came through the doors. Over the next several years, average attendance was 300,000 per year. The planetarium broke even during its first year, but then ran at a deficit of $30,000–$50,000 each year, with McDonnell regularly providing funding assistance. The facility was named after him in 1964.
A tradition each year during the holiday season is for the Planetarium's unique hyperboloid structure to be wrapped with a holiday ribbon. It began as a prank in 1970 when students tied a ribbon around the building for Christmas, but it was so popular that the tradition continued, with local businesses donating the funds and materials each year for the Planetarium to be wrapped with a bright red ribbon and a massive bow.
In the 1970s, the planetarium hosted telescope tours on its roof, and in 1975, ran Laserium shows. In the 1980s, the Planetarium had an Evans & Sutherland
Evans & Sutherland
Evans & Sutherland is a computer firm involved in the computer graphics field. Their products are used primarily by the military and large industrial firms for training and simulation, and in digital projection environments like planetariums.-History:...
Digistar 1 star projector. In 1983, a tax increase was approved for the science museum, and the city sold the planetarium to the museum, then leasing it the land under the building. The Planetarium was closed in 1983, and re-opened after a $3 million renovation on July 20, 1985 as the Saint Louis Science Center. In January 2000 the Planetarium closed for renovations, and reopened on June 22, 2001 fitted with the world's fourth Zeiss Universarium Mark IX star projector
Zeiss projector
A Zeiss projector is one of a line of planetarium projectors manufactured by the Carl Zeiss Company.The first modern planetarium projectors were designed and built in 1924 by the Zeiss Works of Jena, Germany in 1924. Zeiss projectors are designed to sit in the middle of a dark, dome-covered room...
, capable of projecting over 9,000 stars onto a dome 80 feet (24.4 m) in diameter. The planetarium also contains other related exhibits on astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
and space travel
Human spaceflight
Human spaceflight is spaceflight with humans on the spacecraft. When a spacecraft is manned, it can be piloted directly, as opposed to machine or robotic space probes and remotely-controlled satellites....
.
Main building
In 1972, the Science Center in Clayton began to receive funds from sales tax through the Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum DistrictMetropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District
The Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District or ZMD is a cultural tax district in St. Louis City and St. Louis County, Missouri. The district has five subdistricts, these being the St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis Science Center, Missouri History Museum, and Missouri...
. In 1983, St. Louis Museum of Science and Natural History purchased the Planetarium from the city, and closed it for remodeling. On July 20, 1985, the Planetarium reopened as the Saint Louis Science Center. On November 2, 1991, as part of a $34 million expansion, a new building opened across from the Planetarium south of Highway 40/64, on Oakland Avenue, increasing the size of the Science Center by a factor of seven. The new building was constructed on land that had previously been the site of the Falstaff Brewing Corporation
Falstaff Brewing Corporation
The Falstaff Brewing Corporation was a major American brewery located in St. Louis, Missouri. With roots in the 1838 Lemp Brewery of St. Louis, the company was renamed after the Shakespearean character of Sir John Falstaff in 1903. Production peaked in 1965 with 7,010,218 barrels brewed, and then...
headquarters. Designed by E. Verner Johnson and Associates, the new building included an Omnimax, now called IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
Dome theater, as well as a pedestrian bridge over 64/40. New exhibits in the main building were devoted to Earth science
Earth science
Earth science is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. It is arguably a special case in planetary science, the Earth being the only known life-bearing planet. There are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Earth sciences...
, emerging technology, life sciences
Life sciences
The life sciences comprise the fields of science that involve the scientific study of living organisms, like plants, animals, and human beings. While biology remains the centerpiece of the life sciences, technological advances in molecular biology and biotechnology have led to a burgeoning of...
, physical science
Physical science
Physical science is an encompassing term for the branches of natural science and science that study non-living systems, in contrast to the life sciences...
, and chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
. Within two months, the newly remodeled Saint Louis Science Center became the most visited science center in the world.
From October 2011 until May 2012, the main building will host Star Trek: The Exhibition, a major showcase of Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
props, costumes and artifacts, including a full-size bridge from the USS Enterprise
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
.
Exploradome
On February 8, 1997, an air-supported building was added to the main building, the Montgomery Bank Exploradome. With an additional 18000 square foot, 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 WorldsBody Worlds
Body Worlds is a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts that are prepared using a technique called plastination to reveal inner anatomical structures...
, a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies.
Taylor Community Science Resource Center
The Taylor Community Science Resource Center opened in 2003. The building was donated by Jack TaylorJack C. Taylor
Jack Crawford Taylor is an American businessman and the founder of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company. With an estimated net worth of around $7.4 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 18th-richest American and the 40th-richest person in the world.Taylor enrolled in the Olin Business School at...
, founder of Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Enterprise Holdings, Inc. is a privately held company formed in 2009 to operate rental car subsidiaries: Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, Alamo Rent A Car, WeCar and its commercial fleet management, used car sales, and commercial truck rental operations.Enterprise Holdings was formed as...
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.
Admission and exhibits
Energizer Holdings
Energizer Holdings is an American manufacturer of batteries and personal care products, headquartered in Town and Country, Missouri. Its most well known brands are Energizer and Eveready batteries, Schick, Wilkinson Sword and Edge shaving products, Playtex feminine hygiene and baby products, and...
human hamster wheel that powers the Energizer Ball Machine, and Exploradome entrance. On the second floor there is a computer gallery called Cyberville, the Structures Gallery, the Discovery Room for young children and their parents, the Flight! Gallery on the bridge/tunnel connection to the Planetarium, and the Omnimax Movie Theater. All three floors contain the Energizer Ball Machine which is three stories high.