Da Vinci Science Center to build new facility in downtown Allentown

The Da Vinci Science Center is building a new museum in downtown Allentown to offer three times the exhibit space and more interactive educational programs.

Lin Ericson, CEO, said the 60,000 square-foot facility on Hamilton Avenue between 8th and 9th streets, will offer exhibits only found in major cities.

The center, a $65 million project, is looking to the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority (ANIZDA) for help with reaching the funding goal.

Tuesday night, the public review committee recommended the project to the full board, which will vote on the allocation of funds at 5 p.m. Sept. 1, said Michelle Reid, executive assistant for the ANIZDA.

To date, the science center has raised $42 million toward the goad. Ericson said funding from the ANIZDA will be a major boost for the project.

The NIZ is a special taxing district created by state law in 2011 to encourage development in center city Allentown and other cities across the state. According to the NIZ website, projects get money up front and are granted tax relief to pay debt services on bonds and loans they receive for the projects.

Ericson explained that the taxes a business would normally pay get funded back to the company to pay down the loan. “We will pay the money back over nine years with the taxes we would normally pay to the state and federal government,” she said. “All taxes (except real estate) can be used to pay down the loan, even during construction.”

The science center, she said, will have three times more exhibit space with immersive programs in health care and manufacturing, the two major industries in the Lehigh Valley.

“We will also be recreating the Pocono ravine with river otters,” she said. The Lehigh River Shed is an important natural resource and the science center will be a good educational tool for children to learn about it, she said. “We will even have a 30-foot waterfall.”

There will be an exhibit where people can see themselves in a three dimensional 60-foot state, she said. “We are working with Olympus (Center Valley), a local health care company to educate people about the body,” she said.

“We have been working closely with the ANIZDA from the beginning. The nice thing is that we get the money up front. It’s a wonderful program,” she said. “Even as a non-profit, we pay taxes. That includes all the taxes we pay for contractors and caterers, almost everything.”

The science center will break ground in March and Ericson said she expects the new center to open in early 2024. “It’s a great location and walkable from neighborhoods. We project more than 400,000 visitors a year which will bring people into downtown during the day, which will boost other business.”

The current science center, 3145 Hamilton Blvd Bypass will remain open through the construction of the new facility. “We haven’t decided about the future of the location, but we might keep the facility for more programming space,” she said. “We are not slowing down at all. We are pushing as hard as ever. We want to inspire kids to be curious, just like Leonardo Da Vinci.”