Museum History

The Science Museum of Western Virginia is the oldest science museum in Virginia, founded in 1970 by a group of teachers and community volunteers to provide informal science experiences to enhance education in the classroom. While the organization has grown and moved into larger and more accessible facilities, it has never strayed from its mission focus.

The Museum moved into its current home on two floors of a multi-cultural building in the heart of downtown Roanoke called Center in the Square in 1983. That move led to the fabrication of all new galleries and transformed the Museum from a small “home-grown” collecting Museum to a larger institution with a planetarium and a wide selection of interactive exhibits. Another major renovation occurred in 1995, as the Museum celebrated its 25th anniversary. The Museum is now among the fewer than 5% of museums in the U.S. nationally accredited by the American Association of Museums.

The Science Museum experienced a change in leadership in 2006, which brought renewed energy and a rededication to mission. After nearly a decade without a significant upgrade, the Museum has embarked on a bold plan to radically change—and radically enhance—the way the Museum serves the community, based on the widely accepted, but not widely implemented, principles of inquiry-based learning. The undertaking, announced in November 2006, has a goal not only to update the aging facility but to also establish a new national model for other mid-sized science centers.