Museum Beautification Project sponsored by the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority
Asheville Museum of Science Announces Upcoming Expansion and New Exhibit Through Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority’s Tourism Product Development Fund
Scheduled for completion in Spring of 2023!
ASHEVILLE, NC –The Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority (BCTDA) approved a $125,000 investment in Asheville Museum of Science’s (AMOS) capital infrastructure improvements. The “Museum Beautification Project” includes expanded museum exhibit offerings, a relocated museum shop, and interactive, interchangeable wall content that will enhance family and educator engagement with AMOS, expanding family friendly offerings in downtown Asheville.
Graphic rendering of the new Science on a Sphere exhibit planned for AMOS!
Asheville Museum of Science officially opened the doors in its downtown location on November 11th, 2016. Since then, the museum has grown in its offerings and capacity, but lack of space has meant major limitations, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. AMOS leadership began planning the Museum Beautification Project in 2020 as a response to community feedback suggesting that the museum could better serve patrons by increasing capacity and diversifying its exhibits.
Through the BCTDA’s generous investment through the Tourism Product Development Fund (TPDF), AMOS will be able to expand in its current location, increasing capacity by 20% and providing a safer and more accessible entry into the museum. This project supports the installation of a Science on a Sphere exhibit that will be updated in real time with datasets from NASA and NOAA, along with interactive panels that will be updated with content related to feature datasets.
Why: Providing critical support for the public’s interaction with climate and human health is more important now than ever before, and the Science on a Sphere will serve as a resource and cornerstone for improving widespread science literacy. AMOS is a community destination and resource. With over 60% of our visitors coming from Buncombe and immediately surrounding counties annually, the museum serves as an advocate and resource for regional STEM education and workforce development. Asheville and Buncombe students continue to fall behind in science and many local industries struggle to find qualified workers for STEM jobs. AMOS addresses this problem through exciting programs for students that use scientific inquiry to support academic growth, critical thinking and reasoning skills, and the appreciation of and interest in science-related careers.
AMOS served more than 100,000 students, families, and teachers last year through Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) programming, including exhibits, field trips, mobile learning, STEAM lab, and summer camps. AMOS continues to serve its mission to advance science literacy, foster lifelong learning in the community, and develop a future workforce.
There are several ways to support AMOS’s Museum Beautification Project
- Track our progress online (coming soon!)
- Directly support AMOS’s ability to provide family-fun and accessible science education in Western North Carolina by making a donation.
- Learn more at our website, ashevillescience.org, or by contacting Kay Waller at kwaller@ashevillescience.org.
- For multi-media requests, refer to the AMOS shared drive.
