Phase II -- Seeking New Worlds
Renovation of Vestibule, Lobby, and Mezzanine for Waterworks Exhibits
New Prairie Construction completed their work on our new water exhibits area in October, 2000. They renovated the vestibule, lobby, and mezzanine of our historic Orpheum Theatre and more than doubled our exhibit space! A new electrical service was installed, and a new forced air heating/AC unit is ready to heat and cool this new area. Julie Vogel of New Prairie did a fantastic job recasting damaged and missing plaster moldings to maintain the historic character of the theater. Antique Art Deco light fixtures have been installed to light the new space.
PACA Heritage Award
The work on Phase II was so exceptional that the Orpheum Children's Science Museum and New Prairie Construction received the Preservation and Conservation Assocation's Heritage award for adaptive use of a historic building!
The photo below shows the renovation in progress. Take a virtual tour of the WaterWorks exhibits in the completely renovated space.
Looking Forward to Phase III
With the completion of Phase II we have now set our sites on Phase III, the renovation of the main auditorium and stage. The work on Phase II turned out so well, we hope everyone can get behind the capital fund drive that will be necessary to finance Phase III. We are hopeful that when our supporters see how much we've been able to accomplish with an extremely limited budget and many thousands of volunteer hours, local companies and individuals will step forward and give generously to allow the museum to finish the theater renovation for additional hands-on exhibits.
When our project has been completed, the museum will be a major tourist attraction for our area, not only because of our fun and educational science exhibits, but also because our project is an excellent example of adaptive reuse of an historic structure for future generations!