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The Kentucky Science Center, previously known as the Louisville Museum of Natural History & Science and then Louisville Science Center, is 
The
Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
's largest science
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
museum
A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...
. Located in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
, on "Museum Row" in the West Main District of downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
, the museum operates as a non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
organization. It was founded in 1871 as a natural history
Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...
collection. Many students in Kentucky take field trips to the Kentucky Science Center.
There are about 550,000 visitors annually. A special hands-on area for children, featuring six educational activity sections, was renovated and renamed as ''KidZone'' in 1998.
The building is located at 727 West Main Street and is about 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m2). The distinctive cast-iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...
facade limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
building was originally built in 1878 as a dry goods warehouse. The city purchased the property in 1975, and the museum moved to the premises in 1977, subsequently winning several design awards for its preservation of the building. A four-story digital theater was added in 1988 and renovated in early 2014.
The pendulum
A pendulum is a device made of a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate i ...
has been a fixture of the building for decades.
On January 11, 2007, it was announced that the Kentucky Science Center would acquire the Alexander Building, which was built in 1880, adjacent to the original building.
In 2009, the center opened a Science Education Wing on the building's first floor. The wing includes four science-workshop labs equipped for "hands-on participation". The five-story Alexander Building is nearly 37,000 square feet (3,400 m2).
See also
* Tchaenhotep – a Third Intermediate Periodmummy
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...
owned by the center
* List of attractions and events in the Louisville metropolitan area
This is a list of visitor attractions and annual events in the Louisville metropolitan area.
Annual festivals and other events
Spring
* Abbey Road on the River, a salute to The Beatles with many bands, held Memorial Day weekend in Louisvill ...
* List of museums in the Louisville metropolitan area
References
External links
* Science museums in Kentucky Natural history museums in Kentucky Museums established in 1871 Museums in Louisville, Kentucky 1871 establishments in Kentucky Association of Science-Technology Centers member institutions