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Science center plan brims with hands-on features The Ashland project will be discussed on Tuesday By TONY BOOM Mail Tribune ASHLAND � Kids may be able to dig through sand like a paleontologist to uncover replica dinosaur bones when the Science Center of Southern Oregon opens later this year. "You can hold up a skull and learn as much about this one piece as possible," said Andy Kuzmitz, a physician and lifelong fan of the big creatures, who will volunteer his time, expertise and fossil collection for the center�s dinosaur exhibit. Kuzmitz�s idea is the type that center organizers hope to gain when they hold a public meeting at Medford Fabrication, 1119 Court St., at 7 p.m. on Feb. 4. They�ll also seek volunteers and firms that can help construct and assemble exhibits, and ideas for programs. There will be a public meeting at the museum in Ashland at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The museum is at East Main and Walker streets. "We have the opportunity at the very beginning to get the community interested," said John Javna, head of the center�s exhibit committee. "It will be a lot more fun to get all these people involved. It�s a regional facility." Science Saturdays, open to the general public, are scheduled to start in the fall, but could begin by late spring if exhibits are assembled earlier. Schoolkids will visit during weekdays. The center will be in the former Pacific Northwest Natural History Museum that closed in 1997. Kirlin Foundation of Kirkland, Wash., purchased the building last year and leased it to the center. About 30 to 50 exhibits will be displayed in a 5,000-square-foot area when the center opens. Some of them will come from the Ashland Middle School Science Institute, a prototype that Javna has operated for three years. The center will be 10 times the size of AMSSI. "Our learning curve has been quite steep," said Javna. "There was lots of investment in time and dollars for the pilot projects." Experience gained at AMSSI will help keep costs down. Javna estimates that between $25,000 and $50,000 will be spent for the first set of exhibits. Exhibits must be durable, safe and adaptable, he said. Besides dinosaur bones, visitors may find an exhibit where they explore the effects of magnets on a color television picture. Or they might encounter a harmonograph, which features a stationary pen with a flat surface hanging underneath. Swinging the surface produces different inscribed patterns. The harmonograph will be 8 to 10 feet tall and have a 4-by-8 swinging surface. Science Saturdays will have a nominal admission fee to attract a wider audience for feedback, said Dave Bernard, president of the five-member board. Different activities will be featured each Saturday, and exhibits will change regularly. Volunteers currently handle most center operations, said Sharon Javna, executive director. The center has three paid employees: an exhibit preparer and two educators. "We�re developing Science Saturdays with funds on hand and volunteers," said Sharon Javna. She wants the center to start small and build on its own success. A formal fund-raising effort and hiring of additional staff will follow after the first program opens. The center has more than 100 volunteers and a 30-member advisory board. More information is available by calling 488-7856 or visiting www.scicenterso.org on the Web. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.