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ScienceWorks hails numbers from first month of operation Staff reports December was a great month at ScienceWorks, Ashland's new hands-on museum. The number of visitors exceeded projections by nearly 50 percent during the first 30 days of operation, officials said. A total of 1,100 visitors on the last Saturday in December pushed attendance for the month to more than 2,900 on the four Saturdays the museum was open. The deluge continued Jan. 4, when 890 people explored more than 79 interactive exhibits, hands-on activities and live performances. "I think everybody was really curious to see what we could do," said Executive Director Sharon Javna. "What's even more exciting to me than the December numbers is that everybody seems to have gone away feeling very positive about what was here." Opening day Dec. 7 saw 700 visitors. The next two Saturdays had about 550 each. More than 400 people, double the expected number, attended a Dec. 6 preview. Ashland visitors have made up between 55 percent and 60 percent of guests. More than 40 percent came from outside Ashland, with 30 percent from Medford and 10 percent from outside Southern Oregon. More than 95 percent of anonymous survey respondents categorized the museum experience as "great" and said they would return. "If we keep getting the kind of attendance we got in December through January and beyond, we will look at increasing our hours sooner than we thought," said Javna. The museum is at East Main and Walker streets. It is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for children 2 to 12. For information, call 482-6767 or visit scienceworksmuseum.org on the Web. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -