SciWorks
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SciWorks, the Science Center and Environmental Park of Forsyth County is a science museum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Although it is geared primarily towards children from preschool up to eighth grade, it has offerings for all ages.
It began in the late 1950's as the Nature Science Center of Forsyth County, started by the local Junior League; the museum was originally housed in a barn at Reynolda Village. In 1971, the Nature Science Center moved to its present location at West Hanes Mill Road, into a building that originally housed a home for the destitute and later a psychiatric hospital. In 1992 it closed and underwent a major renovation, re-opening under the SciWorks name. In 2001, the museum upgraded the facilities by doubling the space of one of the main galleries and adding an indoor eating area to the building.
The museum currently consists of a building with 45,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 15-acre environmental park, and a planetarium. The exhibit galleries cover a wide range of topics such as North Carolina geography and geology, local wildlife, the human body, physics (featuring a Foucault pendulum), sound, and technology. In addition, there is a traveling exhibit gallery that features both nationally touring exhibits and exhibits created in-house.
The environmental park features river otters named Mollie and Ollie, white-tailed deer, and a barnyard (which reopened after extensive fundraising in 2006). The museum also runs several interactive education programs for elementary and middle school students, and has created an outreach program for schools in more remote areas.
Contrary to popular belief, the museum is not run by the city of Winston-Salem; it is an independent non-profit facility. Although it receives some city funding, it relies heavily on donations and museum visitors to stay in operation.
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