The Denver Museum of Nature & Science has received a series of grants totaling $3.75 million from the Avenir Foundation in support of the Museum’s new Collections Conservation Center, currently under construction. The funds will also provide critical funding for long-term collections conservation. The Avenir Foundation supports educational, arts, and cultural activities.
The Conservation Center is part of the larger Rocky Mountain Science Collections Center, which will provide a consolidated and climate controlled home for the Museum’s 1.4 million specimens and artifacts. The state-of-the-art facility will reach the highest standards for collections acquisition, care, preservation, and research-positioning the Museum as a global leader in collections stewardship.
The Rocky Mountain Science Collections Center is part of the Education and Collections Facility, a 126,000-square-foot addition to the Museum that broke ground on September 13, 2011. The Education and Collections Facility will also feature a dedicated, interactive science center for preschoolers, new classrooms and education programs for 21st-century schoolchildren, and additional space for engaging public programs and world-class temporary exhibitions. It is scheduled to open in 2014.
The facility is funded through a combination of private fundraising and $30 million in Better Denver bonds, approved by voters in 2007. In addition to the Better Denver funds and thanks to the lead gift of $8 million from the Morgridge Family Foundation, the Museum has raised another $22.5 million toward this project. – www.dmns.org