Discovery Center plans hinge on funding push

The clock is ticking for Discovery Center of Springfield.

The center has been granted a six-week extension to raise the $517,000 necessary to secure a challenge grant of $450,000 from the Mabee Foundation of Oklahoma.

Through its Strokes of Genius capital campaign, Discovery Center has already raised approximately $2.2 million of the $2.8 million needed to realize its expansion plans.

Once funds are obtained, the center will expand into a third building __the former Trailways bus building _ next door to its 438 E. St. Louis St. location.

That expansion will be sooner rather than later if the center can beat the clock and raise the last of the needed funds. Aiding that effort is approximately $80,000 in Neighborhood Assistance Program tax credits available for qualifying donations.

If the funding comes through, construction will begin sometime after the first of year. _We_re currently looking at general contractors to bring on, and, obviously, we hope to get in-kind donations of materials and services, too,_ said Emily Fox, Discovery Center CEO.

Short on space

_We_re out of space where we are now, and it_s hindering the (ability) to offer programs to more students and families,_ Fox said.

Part of the reason for that space shortage is that Discovery Center is not just a local educational resource, but a regional one.

_We_ve had approximately 40,000 students come through this last year. We_re really a regional facility. We draw visitors from 2 1/2 hours away,_ including school field trips from as far away as Arkansas, she said.

Because of limited space, the facility does not currently have dedicated classroom space, and traveling exhibits often must be displayed on more than one floor of the building.

New exhibits

Discovery Center has big plans, drawn up by the Farnsworth Group, the architect on the project.

On the first floor of the new addition would be _a transportation exhibit hall that would concentrate first on flight _ the physics and so forth of understanding flight. Then we_re also going to have a water exhibit, which will integrate mechanical advantage principles.

Mechanical advantages are the most basic of human tools _ _ the screw, the wedge, the pulley and lever, possibly the spring _ very basic principles that kids and adults use every day of their life and they don_t realize it. When we zip up a zipper, that_s mechanical advantage,_ Fox said.

With the exhibit, _We might have buckets where you_re using pulleys to lower the bucket in the water, pull it back up and move it to another area. Things like that,_ she added.

Also in the plans is a dedicated space for traveling exhibits.

On the mezzanine level, the center will add a sky cycle and a biomechanics area. The biomechanics exhibit focuses on _ the physics of what your body is doing _ and the physical principles, too _ when you_re playing sports. What are your bones and muscles doing when you_re riding a bike or what_s happening when you swing a golf club or jump high?_ Fox said.

Also planned is a multicultural world tour exhibit _ a collaborative effort of Discovery Center and the Springfield Public Schools multicultural initiative committee.

_We_re going to combine six cultures in this one area, and also not only look at it from the historical and artistic (perspective), but also bring in social studies and technology,_ Fox said.

High-tech additions

Also on the third level of the Trailways building will be two large classrooms with Internet and videoconferencing capability.

_What_s so important about that right now is we really have no formal classroom setting; its all very informal, which can be fun, but what happens is when the kids are in their classes or their programs, they_re in there with the rest of the visitors, which can be a distraction,_ Fox said.

And the high-tech classrooms will serve more than students.

_With that videoconferencing and Internet capability and all the different technology, we_ll be able to do professional development for teachers.

_And businesses can use those rooms for professional development for their associates, or whatever they need those rooms for,_ Fox said.

The third level also will be the permanent site of the Discovery Center_s new Immersion Theater, which debuted Oct. 1.

_It_s interactive digital theater that combines education and entertainment, but it_s in a temporary setting now in our auditorium,_ Fox said.