Cedar Rapids Science Center undergoing changes

CEDAR RAPIDS - After nearly six years of fluctuation for the Cedar Rapids Science Center, the organization is changing its focus and location under a new executive director.

Monica Challenger, the new executive director hired this summer, said the group's mission will remain teaching and inspiring a love of science and engineering learning. But the 'hands-on” exhibits that many remember from the original days of the Science Station, as it was known when it originally opened, are probably going away.

'That model (science exhibits) worked well 30 years ago,” said Monica Challenger, the new executive director for the center. 'But we don't bank the way we did 30 years ago, kids don't learn the same way they did 30 years ago. It just makes sense for us to keep current and updated with how kids learn.”

Science Center Board vice-chair, Mario Affatigato, agreed, saying many of the original exhibits are still around.

'The world has changed and we need to adapt to it. I think a kid will be far more excited to learn to use a 3-D printer than they are about pushing a button to see do three light bulbs light up or just two light bulbs,” he said.

The Center instead will focus on science camps, classes and teaching kids to create their own projects in an area called a 'Maker Space.”

The Maker Space, Challenger said, will focus on STEM learning - science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She also said it's 'a way to address a gap we have” for getting teenagers and adults engaged in the Science Center.

'In order for people to have success in this rapidly changing world they have to have perseverance to learn new skills,” she said. 'If you bring kids into a space like this where they're all learning, tinkering and not competing for a grade, they tend to stick with it.”

Memberships for the Maker Space will cost around $35 per month. Daniel Barbieri, a Science Center board member, said the board discussed the possibility of day passes or short-term use but ultimately decided against the idea.

'We wanted to build a community,” he said. 'We wanted people to come in and interact with one another,” adding that liability was another concern.

When the flood of 2008 hit the Science Center's former facility downtown, the non-profit moved temporarily to Lindale Mall. Last September, it moved into a 30,000-square-foot building that formerly housed Rockwell Collins offices at 5824 Council Street NE. The idea was to lease the space initially while raising enough in donations to eventually buy the building. But that did not work out.

With a shift in focus, there won't be the need for a large space for the exhibits. So The Science Center wants to downsize to a space that is about 7,000 to 12,000 square feet.

Challenger said the center does not yet have a new location in mind. It will remain on Council Street with the same programming and exhibits until the building's owners find a buyer or a new tenant or the center finds a new home.