Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science
 | |
| Established | 1949 |
|---|---|
| Location | 3280 South Miami Avenue Miami, Florida, United States |
| Type | Science museum |
| Director | Gillian Thomas, CEO Frank Steslow, COO Tony Lima, VP of Communications |
| Curator | Sean Duran, VP of Exhibitions |
| Public transit access | Metrorail access at Vizcaya Station |
| Website | Miami Science Museum |
The Miami Science Museum is an attraction located in the city of Miami, Florida, USA. The museum itself also contains a planetarium, Weintraub Observatory and a wildlife center. The museum is currently working to transplant the museum from its current location to Park West at Bicentennial Park in Downtown Miami along with the Miami Art Museum. A new blockbuster[citation needed] exhibition called Music Musica opened to the public on October 25, 2008.
History
The Museum first started as "The Junior Museum of Miami" and was a private non-profit organization established in 1949. It was located inside a house on the corner of Biscayne Boulevard and 26th Street. The Museum grew so rapidly that in 1952 it relocated to the Miami Women's Club building on Bayshore Drive. When it arrived at the new location it was renamed "Museum of Science and Natural History".
In 1953, the Guild of the Museum of Science was formed adding the efforts of volunteer assistance to the staff, operation of the Museum Store, as well as tours and outreach programs.
The museum began to outgrow its new home again and a special committee headed by Claire Weintraub recommended that Miami should establish a major independent science museum which could service citizens of all ages. By 1960, the first building of the community's new science museum opened its doors. The facility was located on 3 acres (12,000 m2) of the historic Vizcaya complex, and was built and furnished rent-free by the County.
Late 1966 saw the construction of a Space Transit Planetarium, which soon became the leading facility of its kind in the world.[citation needed] Its activities now include international television programming (see Star Gazer).
In 1989, the Museum's lease agreement with the county for the Vizcaya site was extended for 99 years.
During the last decade, the Museum has expanded to provide space for 4,000 member families, over 250,000 annual visitors, one of the largest summer science camps in the nation (ages 3 to 14) and countless additional exhibits, collections and activities. The yearly operating budget has grown to 2.5 million dollars, and the property currently totals 48,000 square feet (4,500 m2).
Planetarium
The planetarium was opened on November 4, 1966. It is home to Jack Horkheimer's Star Gazer, the world’s first and only weekly television series on naked-eye astronomy.[1] The projection dome room is 65' in diameter and has seating for over 230. It utilizes a SPITZ (Space Transit Planetarium) star projector.