Liberty Science Center
Liberty Science Center, located at the booming Jersey City waterfront in Liberty State Park, celebrated its grand reopening July 2007, following a 22-month, $109 million upgrade of its exhibition, program and theater experiences in facilities that have been enlarged and modernized with improvements such as new restaurant and retail amenities. The purpose of the redesigned Center, now 296,000 square feet, is to be a unique and engaging resource about the science and technology of living, learning and working in the NJ-NYC region.
Already established as a major destination and with national model approaches for connecting with schools and families across all socio-economic circumstances, as well as for its adaptive use of videoconferencing technology, Liberty Science Center is poised to redefine how a science center can offer greater public service.
The ultimate goal of the “new” Liberty Science Center is to inspire visitors, particularly those from the younger generations, to take informed action in their daily lives. It does so by demonstrating how science and technology can help people assess the choices they make, and showing how the outcomes of each choice connect everyone – locally, regionally and globally. To make good choices, a person must understand both the potentially negative and positive consequences of their behavior. Liberty Science Center wants each of its over one million annual visitors and program participants to be aware of changes that can arise from a single decision.
But simply relaying facts about cause and effect is often not enough to change behavior. Emotional connections must also be developed. To do so, Liberty Science Center strives to make the science and technology that surround us more relevant by placing them into the context of people’s daily lives. For example, information about dredging in Our Hudson Home is presented at an “action table” which encourages experimentation with streams, sand banks and dredging operations. Meanwhile, facts about STDs in Infection Connection are shown in the setting of a teen’s bedroom. This approach of presenting real issues and real science is being replicated throughout the Center’s hundreds of new exhibitions, programs and presentations.
Liberty Science Center will offer unique immersive experiences designed to captivate visitors and other members of its constituency. This includes unleashing the power of communal creativity through the Exhibit Commons, which allows participants -- who may be onsite, offsite or online -- to propose modifications to certain of its exhibitions, presenting ideas for others to consider. For example, a young adult could contribute a video describing the devastation of being diagnosed HIV-positive. A savvy teen could reprogram the manner in which digital exhibits express concepts and in turn view those altered by others. A technology-focused student could share her passion by displaying robotics projects for other guests to enjoy. The possibilities are myriad.
Science centers began as places of interactive discovery about certain scientific phenomena. Liberty Science Center’s innovative approach immerses visitors in the connections between society, science and technology through a wide variety of forms of engagement, not through entertainment. Geared especially to pre-school children with caregivers, school students, science teachers and families – but, because of its multi-layered approaches, also attractive to adult, community and corporate groups – the “new” Liberty Science Center abounds in unparalleled learning and teaching opportunities.
Contact
Dina Schipper201.253.1278
Mary Meluso
201.253.1335
mmeluso@lsc.org