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Ashland will get science museum It�s set to open in 2002 where natural history museum failed By John Darling ASHLAND � A new science center with "fun, dynamic, interactive exhibits" will rise up in the building that once housed the now-defunct Pacific Northwest Museum of Natural History, according to the new center�s backers. The 26,000-square-foot, 7-year-old building, which sits on property owned by Southern Oregon University on East Main Street, is being sold for $1.5 million to the Kirlin Foundation of Kirkland, Wash. The state is expected to sign off on the sale next week. The Kirlin Foundation will then lease the building to the Science Center of Southern Oregon, an Ashland nonprofit group. The building, constructed in the shape of a lizard, has sat vacant for more than three years. The museum closed in September 1997. Backers say the new center will be full of interactive exhibits along the lines of San Francisco�s Exploratorium and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland. It is scheduled to open in 2002. The State Board of Higher Education is expected to approve the sale on Feb. 16. SOU will lease the land to SCSO, said Ron Bolstad, SOU vice president for administration and finance. Kirlin president Daniel Kranzler will sit on the SCSO board, said fellow board member Sharon Javna, an Ashland attorney and prime organizer behind the center along with her husband, John. The Science Center�s main mission will be to "inspire the curiosity of children with hands-on exhibits in many areas of science" and also to involve families, seniors, students and the community throughout the region in exhibits, presentations, classes and volunteerism, Sharon Javna said. "This will be a whole new museum with a whole new concept," she said. "The permanent exhibits of the natural history museum will be removed. In their place we�ll install fun, dynamic, interactive exhibits, and we�ll change them periodically so visitors will have reason to keep coming back." The tornado and bubble wall at the Exploratorium and Foucault�s Pendulum at OMSI are examples of exhibits that engage children and adults and keep them coming back, she said. SOU declined earlier offers to sell the building as a police academy, high-tech security firm and jungle spa, Bolstad said, because the university had decided the building must carry on the theme of the original museum � to provide a role for students in environmental education, local school districts and the general community. SOU�s agreement with the Science Center allows students to join staff and volunteers in helping create "museum quality" exhibits and teach programs there. Stewart Janes, an SOU biology professor, will sit on the Science Center board to facilitate the school�s participation, Bolstad said. The center also has a 25-member advisory board. The Science Center will draw on the experience of some 500 successful participatory science centers nationwide, Javna said, and hopes to avoid the mistakes of the natural history museum by being well-capitalized before opening. The Science Center plans to operate on less than $1 million a year, Javna said, and to raise significant funds from foundations, corporations, governments and individuals. The natural history museum closed in September 1997, after three years of operation. The Pacific Institute of Natural Science, the nonprofit organization that ran the museum, was able to earn enough to cover operating expenses, but couldn�t pay off the $3.2 million it borrowed from the Bank of New York to complete the $10 million building. Those interested in becoming involved with the Science Center may e-mail [email protected] or call 488-7856. On the Net: Kirlin Foundation: www.efundllc.com Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.