Fort Worth Museum of Science and History

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History

Established	1945
Location	1600 Gendy St. Fort Worth, Texas
Type	Science and history
Website	http://www.fortworthmuseum.org/

The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History is located on 1600 Gendy Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76107 in the city's Cultural District. It was opened in 1945 as the Fort Worth Children's Museum and moved to its current location in 1954. In 1968, the museum adopted its current name.^[1] Attractions at the museum include the Noble Planetarium and the Omni Theater, with Star's Cafe and Shop Too! gift shop, in addition to both traveling and permanent science and history exhibits.

In the fall of 2007, the museum was closed for renovations. During construction the museum had a limited presence in the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame next door, with a temporary "2 museums, 1 roof" campaign. The entire museum was moved into a new building at the same site in 2009. The new building was designed by architects Legorreta + Legorreta with Gideon Toal and consists of 166,000 square feet. The original Omni Theater and lobby were refurbished but left mostly intact. In addition, the museum left one tree from the original museum courtyard undisturbed and built the museum around it, leaving the tree in an open area called the Heritage Courtyard. The total maximum occupancy is 3,369 individuals. The museum's opening after renovations was on Friday, November 20, 2009.

Permanent exhibits

150 Years of Fort Worth

"150 Years of Fort Worth" traced Fort Worth's development, from its beginning as a frontier outpost, through its youth as a cattle town, to present day. Created by the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, in cooperation with City Center Development Co., the exhibit was housed in the historic Fire Station No. 1, which was built in 1907. Fire Station No. 1 is located in the City Center complex at the northeast corner of Second and Commerce streets. This exhibit closed on February 19, 2016.^[2]

Noble Planetarium

The 90-seat Noble Planetarium also features an exhibit area that provides large screens with views of the Sun, as well as downlinks offering information from the Hubble Telescope.

Omni Theater, an IMAX Dome

The Omni is the only part of the museum that was not demolished in 2007. The Omni shows documentaries daily, as well as showing feature-length films.

The Museum frequently has themed events called Reel Adventures for certain Omni movies. For The Polar Express the museum hosts Polar Pajama Parties where participants attend in their pajamas, are served hot chocolate, and can participate in winter themed games, followed by a showing of the movie. The last Polar Party of the year features Santa and Mrs.Claus, as well as the conductor character from the film. This year, the museum has introduced a Night at the Museum scavenger hunt through the museum after dark, preceding a showing of the movie.

See also

• Fort Worth Flyover, a short IMAX film commissioned by the museum and traditionally shown before Omni Theater movies
• CSI: The Experience, an exhibit developed by the museum and its partners
• List of museums in North Texas
• Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary
• Perot Museum of Nature and Science

References

External links

Coordinates: 32°44′40″N 97°22′10″W / 32.74444°N 97.36944°W / 32.74444; -97.36944

• The architecture of Fort Worth Museum