Established | 1970 |
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Location | One Market Square SE, 4th Floor Roanoke, Virginia |
Coordinates | 37°16′19″N 79°56′20″W / 37.2720°N 79.939°W |
Type | Science museum |
Website |
smwv |
The Science Museum of Western Virginia is a science museum located in Roanoke , Virginia. [1] Exhibit themes include the environment and its health, healthy bodies, computer coding, the scientific method of engineering, and science through toys and amusements. The museum also features a maker space and a garden with a variety of plants with a focus on agriculture.
In partnership with Virginia Tech, the Science Museum of Western Virginia sponsors the annual Virginia Science Festival. [2]
The museum was chartered in January 1970 as the first science museum in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Originally housed in the 400 square foot basement of Cherry Hill, a multi-cultural center in South Roanoke, it moved in 1976 to the abandoned Tinker Creek School, a 3,000 square-foot building built during World War I. [3] In 1983 the museum moved into the Center in the Square, [4] a renovated large five-story warehouse in the city's downtown market district that opened as a multi-cultural center with other museums and non-profit organizations.