Governor Terry Branstad to help celebrate SCI's 6th Anniversary Downtown and Iowa Museum Day

For Immediate Release — Wednesday, May 11, 2011

DES MOINES, IA: The Science Center of Iowa & Blank IMAX Dome Theater (SCI) will celebrate its 6th Anniversary in downtown Des Moines and Iowa Museum Day this Saturday, May 14 with Governor Terry Branstad.

The Governor will be on hand from 8:00 – 9:00 a.m. to kick-off the celebration and tour SCI’s latest traveling exhibition, BODY WORLDS Vital. SCI staff will feature live programs throughout the day and free cupcakes are available for the first 200 visitors.

“SCI is honored to have been embraced as an educational resource in the community for past forty years and the last six years in downtown Des Moines,” says SCI President & CEO Dr. Paul Jennings. “We are excited to have Governor Branstad with us to mark this occasion and celebrate the important role of museums in the community. SCI will continue to provide new and exciting educational opportunities for the public and inspire lifelong learning.”

Since being downtown SCI has served 2.3 million participants and 500,000 children have participated in educational programs. SCI has provided over 40,000 hours of scheduled programming and has featured 60 IMAX films in the Blank IMAX Dome Theater. More than 66,000 planetarium shows have been created on SCI’s Cosmic Jukebox®. SCI is one of the highest attended cultural attractions in the state of Iowa.

Governor Branstad declared May 14, 2011 Iowa Museum Day as a way to honor museums in Iowa and highlight their role as an important community asset for tourism, educational partnership and contributors to the overall quality of life. He also recognized the importance of Iowa’s museums, stating that Iowa Museum Day will celebrate the crucial role of Iowa’s museums in providing educational resources and programs which expand learning opportunities for all ages.

SCI is open an hour early on May 14 from 8:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Advance tickets to SCI and BODY WORLDS Vital can be purchased online at www.sciowa.org or by calling the SCI Box Office at 515-274-6868. 

About the Science Center of Iowa & Blank IMAX Dome Theater

The Science Center of Iowa is a 110,000-sq. ft facility devoted to lifelong learning, featuring dynamic experience platforms and daily interactive demonstrations with SCI staff for visitors to explore and experiment.  By placing the power of learning in the hands of the visitor, the programmatic emphasis is not on "what" to learn, but "how" to learn.  SCI also features the 175-seat John Deere Adventure Theater for live performances, the 50-foot domed Star Theater for planetarium shows and the 216-seat Blank IMAX Dome Theater for engaging films.  SCI’s Iowa Learning Center cultivates ties to formal education through educational resources for educators and students, the NAEYC-accredited SCI Preschool, as well as a statewide outreach program.