An innovative partnership between the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and Greenville’s A Time for Science will allow the state museum to establish two new locations in Pitt County.
The NC Museum of Natural Sciences at Contentnea Creek is a 400-acre outdoor learning center in Grifton that features hiking and paddling trails through a variety of habitats, as well as an observatory and a planetarium.
The NC Museum of Natural Sciences at Greenville will open in 2021 with new exhibits and educational events that reflect the relevant needs of audiences in northeastern North Carolina
“For many years, A Time for Science has been striving to enhance science education and literacy, but most importantly to ignite a love of science and nature in our younger generations,” said ATFS Executive Director Emily Jarvis Nunnally. “This partnership increases our capacity to do just that for our region.”
A Time for Science occupied the former Pugh’s service station building in Greenville for three years. But it has also renovated 3,500 square feet of adjoining warehouse space. The expansion more than doubles the size of the museum, and will include additional exhibit space, a discovery area for the museum’s youngest visitors, a naturalist center and a weather center.
“While the new Greenville branch will be patterned after specific sections of the main museum in downtown Raleigh it will also have a distinctive northeastern North Carolina flair,” adds NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Director and CEO Eric Dorfman.
Dorman points out two of the early exhibits planned for the museum will focus on pirates and pollinators and will include resources from East Carolina University.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Greenville, set to open in 2021, will be located at 729 Dickinson Ave. Admission will be free. Hours of operation will be announced. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Contentnea Creek, formerly the Grifton Nature & Science Center, is located at 949 Contentnea Lane in Grifton and remains open for registered programs.
With the new centers in Greenville and Grifton, the museum will operate four branch locations around the state. The state museum is located on Jones Street in downtown Raleigh. The museum also operates Prairie Ridge Ecostation, a 45-acre outdoor education facility in west Raleigh. A branch in Whiteville in Columbus County was opened in 2015.