Through a partnership between the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and A Time for Science, Museum is establishing two new branches.
Through a partnership between the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and A Time for Science, the Museum is establishing two new branches in Pitt County.
The NC Museum of Natural Sciences at Contentnea Creek is a 400-acre outdoor learning center in Grifton that features hiking and paddling trails through a variety of habitats, as well as an observatory and a planetarium. The NC Museum of Natural Sciences at Greenville will open in 2021 with new, exceptional exhibits, mind-opening programs and educational events that reflect the relevant needs of audiences in northeastern North Carolina.
“For many years, A Time for Science has been striving to enhance science education and literacy, but most importantly to ignite a love of science and nature in our younger generations,” ATFS Executive Director Emily Jarvis Nunnally said. “This partnership with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences only increases our capacity to do just that for our region.”
A Time for Science, which occupied the former Pugh’s service station building for three years, has renovated 3,500 square feet of adjoining warehouse space. The expansion more than doubles the size of the museum, and will include additional exhibit space, a discovery area for the museum’s youngest visitors, a naturalist center and a weather center.
According to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Director and CEO Eric Dorfman, “While much of the new Greenville museum will be patterned after specific sections of the downtown Raleigh museum, it will also have a distinctive northeastern North Carolina flair.” For example, two of the early exhibits planned for the museum focus on pirates and pollinators and will include resources from East Carolina University.
Under this partnership, A Time for Science centers in Greenville and Grifton, both founded by Nancy and John Bray in 2009, become the third and fourth branch locations of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. The state museum, located on Jones Street in downtown Raleigh, also operates Prairie Ridge Ecostation, a 45-acre outdoor education facility in west Raleigh. It opened a branch in Whiteville in Columbus County in 2015.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Greenville, set to open in 2021, is located at 729 Dickinson Ave. Admission will be free. Hours of operation will be announced. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Contentnea Creek, formerly the Grifton Nature & Science Center, is located at 949 Contentnea Lane in Grifton and remains open for registered programs.
Originally published at WITN