Science just got ‘cooler’
Carnegie Science Center’s new pavilion opens Saturday
After two years of construction, the Carnegie Science Center on Monday unveiled the $33 million PPG Science Pavilion, which will provide 48,000 more square feet for exhibits and educational programs. It will open to the public Saturday morning and will start some of its 26 new summer classes two days later.
On the ground floor, nine brightly colored FedEx STEM Learning labs offer 6,000 square feet, twice as much space as previously. Gel electrophoresis kits were being unpacked for forensics camps in the new “wet lab,” which also will hold lab equipment suited for environmental science and biochemistry.
“Science is much cooler now,” said Hannah Reynolds, 10, of Westfield, an avid summer camper at the science center.
The four-story PPG Science Pavilion marks a turning point for the North Shore science center, which welcomed 500,000 visitors last year. The building received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, gold certification.
“This is a symbol of the new and revitalized Pittsburgh,” said Ron Baillie, the science center’s co-director.
The 14,000-square-foot Scaife Exhibit Gallery, which takes up the first and second floors, will house touring exhibitions. Its inaugural exhibit, “The Art of the Brick” by artist Nathan Sawaya, features more than 100 Lego sculptures. The art display will be coupled with a hands-on exhibit, “The Science of the Brick,” featuring Lego interactives in the third-floor’s Suzy Broadhurst Overlook.
On a tour of the facility Monday, science center officials discussed one of the Lego interactives, a game that allows visitors to build their own assistive devices.
“The good news for us is we don’t have to solve the problem. It’s up to them,” said Dennis Bateman, senior director of exhibitions and experience.
On the top floor of the building, with a panoramic view of the Downtown skyline, the 9,800-square-foot PointView Hall and Terrace functions as a multipurpose space for STEM competitions and private rentals, with 45 events booked so far. The space will be open to the public for fireworks viewing on July 4.
The PPG Science Pavilion is the centerpiece of the science center’s Spark! Campaign, a funding initiative started in 2014 that raised $46 million to expand educational outreach. The pavilion’s namesake, PPG and the PPG Foundation, provided $7.5 million, the largest donation ever received by the science center. The rest of the money came from over 350 community donors.