February 18, 2002
Baylor begins construction on $23 million
natural science and cultural history complex
___WACO--Construction has begun on Baylor University's Harry and Anna Jeanes Discovery Center, centerpiece of the Mayborn Natural Science and Cultural History Museum Complex.
___The complex will be located off Interstate 35 on University Parks Drive. The $23 million building project also will include a support wing, which will be home to Baylor's Center for Museum Studies.
CALVIN SMITH, director of the Mayborn Museum Complex and chair of the department of museum studies at Baylor University, shows off the property now under development.
___Baylor officials expect more than 200,000 visitors annually at the Discovery Center, which is designed to provide a state-of-the-art science and cultural history experience for the children and families of Central Texas. A ceremonial groundbreaking for the center was held Jan. 31. The facility is projected for completion in 2004.
___The mission of the Mayborn Museum Complex will be to tell the story of Central Texas, taking visitors on a journey through the beginning of the universe through prehistoric Texas, Native American times and Spanish contact periods to how Texans live today. Artifacts, dioramas, text panels and interactive computer-generated information areas will work together to interpret the natural and cultural history of Central Texas.
___The Discovery Center will include a 30,000-square-foot exhibit hall for permanent exhibits, a 30,000-square-foot hands-on educational center for children and families, a 200-seat high-resolution theater with a stage for first-person vignettes of life in the past and conferences, lecturers, and a 5,500-square-foot gallery for traveling and special exhibits.
___The complex also will include an interactive exhibit on Baylor's history, as well as a wall-sized relief map illustrating the geological, paleontological and cultural processes that have shaped Texas.
___Also in the complex, the Gov. Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village will showcase more than 20 reconstructed buildings from the 1890s that provide a living-history experience for visitors.
___
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
