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Science & Technology Museum of Atlanta | |
 Museum entrance | |
  SciTrek (Georgia) Show map of Georgia SciTrek (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Established | October 29, 1988 |
|---|---|
| Dissolved | August 27, 2004 |
| Location | 395 Piedmont Avenue North East Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA |
| Coordinates | 33°45′58″N84°22′54″W / 33.766°N 84.3816°W /33.766; -84.3816 |
| Type | Children's Science & Technology Museum |
| Collection size | 140 exhibits appealing to all age ranges |
| Director | Scott Coleman |
| President | Lewis A. Massey |
TheScience & Technology Museum of Atlanta, usually known asSciTrek, was located at 395Piedmont Avenue (33°45′58″N84°22′54″W / 33.766°N 84.3816°W /33.766; -84.3816) inAtlanta, Georgia, next to theAtlanta Civic Center. It was open from 1988 to 2004, when severe funding cuts forced its permanent closure and the dispersal of its assets.
In 1982, Mary O'Connor and Sue Trotter, fellowJunior Leaguers and longtime neighbors inBrookwood Hills, decided to pursue a science museum forAtlanta.
SciTrek was incorporated in 1982, with an initial grant from the Metropolitan Foundation. The Metropolitan Foundation is a nonprofit corporation guided by a 31-member board of directors headed by Robert W. Scherer, theGeorgia Power Co. chairman and chief executive officer.
With help from the city ofAtlanta, the city committed 96,000 square feet (8,900 m2) of theAtlanta Civic Center exhibition space to the Science and Technology Museum of Atlanta. TheRobert W. Woodruff Foundation donated $1 million. After years of planning and fundraising SciTrek-The Science & Technology Museum of Atlanta finally opened its doors to the public on October 29, 1988.[1]
SciTrek opened with 34 staffers, 150 volunteers, and a $2.5 million annual budget. During the three-day grand opening, 11,000 visitors toured the museum. By the end of its first full fiscal year, SciTrek reported 350,000 visitors to the museum. Museum organizers projected attendance would eventually reach 1 million.
In 1991, SciTrek reported more than 750,000 visitors, most of whom were schoolchildren. In April 1997, Gwen Crider, former deputy director of theSmithsonian Institution'sNational Air and Space Museum, replaced Gene Brandt as president and executive director of SciTrek. In the October 2001 issue ofGood Housekeeping magazine, SciTrek was named one of the country's 10 best science museums.
Even after suffering a 24% drop-off in visitors between 1993 through 1999, SciTrek decided during the 1999 fiscal year to retire its long-standing debt of $3 million. On December 1, 2000,Lewis A. Massey, former Georgia secretary of state, took over as SciTrek president and chief executive officer.[1]
By January 2001, SciTrek's finances were in dire condition, having lost $80,000 to $100,000 a month over the previous six months. The museum had a deficit for the previous three years, reaching $700,000 for fiscal 2000. The board extended a 90-day reprieve for SciTrek instead of closing it down immediately. By June 2001, the State of Georgia, which had provided an annual $175,000 grant to SciTrek, threw in an additional $300,000 to help keep the museum afloat. During August 2002 the following year the Georgia Assembly allocated $425,000 to SciTrek and began a capital campaign to help raise $5 million.
In January 2003, the Challenger Learning Center, a $1.7 million simulated space shuttle mission, opened to the public. In December 2003, SciTrek named technology industry executive, Scott Coleman, as president and CEO, replacing Massey, who left to join a lobbying firm. In June 2003, theGeorgia Department of Education budget for the 2004 fiscal year cut funding for SciTrek by 10 percent.[1]
SciTrek was forced to close in August 2004 due to reduced federal and state funding.[2][3] All of its displays were sold orauctioned on January 15, 2005.[4] Some of the assets, such as the Challenger Learning Center, were transferred toFernbank Science Center, also in Atlanta.
SciTrek once housed more than 140 exhibits appealing to all age ranges. The interactive displays offered visitors the opportunity to explore and discover the marvels of the scientific world, with a special KidSpace section (originally based upon the Kidspace exhibit area atCOSI) specially designed for 2 to 7 year olds. TheMathematica: A World of Numbers... and Beyond exhibit detailed the major achievements in the history of mathematics from the twelfth century as well as explaining mathematical formulae includingKepler's laws of planetary motion andprobability theory. Other exhibits focused onelectricity generation in unusual ways, creating energy frommagnetism, "freezing shadows", or stepping inside akaleidoscope.[citation needed]
SciTrek's Challenger Learning Center was a $1.7 million, simulatedNASA space shuttle mission which opened to the public in January 2003. Upon SciTrek's initial closure, the Challenger Learning Center was put up for auction. Several museums and science centers expressed interest in acquiring the Challenger Learning Center for their facility. None of the entrusted facilities or museums were able to come up with the purchasing cost of $1.7 million. As a result, Challenger Learning Center, with its advanced computers and flight technology, was almost sent to the scrap yard.
Turner Broadcasting System stepped in and raised the money needed to purchase SciTrek's Challenger Learning Center, which was relocated and donated to Atlanta'sFernbank Science Center. SciTrek's name,intellectual property, computers, materials from the Edison exhibit, science education curriculum and programs were transferred toValdosta State University in 2005. The new SciTrek is closed to the public, but serves as an educational center for teachers and students in South Georgia.[5]
STARS: SciTrek Amateur Radio Society operated W4WOW, an amateur radio station located in SciTrek. STARS operated onCW,SSB,FM, andPSK-31 frequencies along with others. The frequency bands most often used by the group wereHF,UHF, andVHF.
When SciTrek was in operation, the group met on the first Sunday of every month at theham radio station in the museum.[6]
In August 2004, the charter school Tech High opened inside the SciTrek Civic Center building. The school was a public-private hybrid.[7]
