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Groundbreaking at Connecticut Center for Science & Exploration

Posted on: Monday, 9 January 2006, 12:00 CST

By Anonymous

Hundreds recently gathered to witness the groundbreaking ceremony for the Connecticut Center for Science & Exploration. Overlooking the Connecticut River in downtown Hartford, the new landmark will bring the world of science to the center of Connecticut, with innovative hands-on exhibits and programs. The approximately 140,000 square foot facility will be both a destinations attraction and a state-of-the-art science learning institution. The center also unveiled its exhibit plans, including the new Future Capsule, and added four prominent leaders to its board of trustees.

"This groundbreaking exemplifies our ongoing efforts to strengthen Connecticut's leadership in science and education," said Governor M. Jodi Rell, honorary co-chair of the center's board of trustees. "The center will be a new symbol of innovation, learning and vitality, inspiring the next generation of researchers, discoverers, inventors, healers, and leaders."

Once built, the center and its exhibits will encourage visitors to learn science by asking questions, testing solutions and discovering the relevance and potential of science in their lives in work, at play, or at school.

"This is a significant milestone in the evolution of this project," said Hank McKinnell, chairman and CEO of Pfizer Inc. and cochairman of the board of the Connecticut Center for Science & Exploration. "As the building emerges from this site, it will send a message that science is interesting and engaging and a vital component of the future of Connecticut."

The center will he a major family destination, attracting hundreds of thousands of people each year to its interactive exhibits, presentations, theaters, cafe, gift shop and education facilities.

"The capacity of our children knows no boundaries and we are creating an environment where they can stretch their curiosity and hunger for learning to new and exciting levels," said Dr. Theodore S. Sergi, president and CEO of the center. "As it begins to rise from this place, our building will immediately begin its life is a teaching building, by inviting people to learn what it is about, and to look forward to what will be inside."

The exhibit floor plan for the center will include a science alley, children's gallery, a physical science and art, music and culture exhibit, a human health and sports science exhibit, a space science and Connecticut inventions exhibit, a traveling exhibits gallery and an earth science, Connecticut River, clean and efficient energy exhibit.

With written descriptions and conceptual renderings of how the exhibit areas will be presented, the Exhibit Concept Plan will provide exciting new details about what the center will actually look like, and what experiences it will create for visitors. For example, in a description of the center's human health gallery, the plan puts the radar in the position of a visitor who is using an interactive personal conditioning exhibit.

The plan also introduces the education center, a decidedly "not school as usual" combination of classroom spaces arrayed along the center's Columbus Boulevard storefront. These rooms, designed more like black box theaters than classrooms, will facilitate deeper exploration of topics found elsewhere in the center, such as forensics and astronomy.

The Future Capsule, an interactive exhibit was also unveiled. This exhibit will be a feature of the new facilitys science alley. The Future Capsule, part of an evolution of the traditional time capsule, will be a living electronic repository of ideas, displayed as part of a permanent interactive exhibit in the center. To commemorate the groundbreaking, students from Two Rivers Middle' School and Norwich Free Academy inaugurated the Future Capsule by depositing their predictions about future science discoveries.

"The Future Capsule is another way we are engaging our community in thinking about and participating in science." said Dr. Sergi.

For more information on the new center visit www.ctcse.org.

Copyright Business Times Nov 01, 2005

Source: Business Times, The; East Hartford

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