Fall Cleaning at ScienceWorks: Caring for Our Home

Most people do their big cleaning projects in the spring. At ScienceWorks, we prefer fall cleaning, because after a busy summer of camps, traveling families, and thousands of curious visitors, our building is ready for a little extra love!

This year, September is an especially good time to tackle some of those projects. As of September 1, ScienceWorks is now closed to the public Monday through Thursday, giving us a little more breathing room during the week to take care of work behind the scenes. The new schedule still feels a little strange to us, but with school field trips not getting underway until October, September gives us a valuable lull in our normal activity, and we're appreciating the opportunity to get some bigger projects done.

The past couple of weeks, staff and contractors have been busy tackling everything from post-summer cleaning and routine maintenance to some long-awaited facility improvements.

There's a lot happening behind the scenes

Last week, the carpets in our public areas got a thorough cleaning while the museum was closed. The floors in the Life Science Lab are also being resurfaced and will be ready for a new season of field trips and camps.

We're also taking care of some less-visible but important maintenance. Plumbing and lighting work is under way, our fire sprinkler system was inspected, and filters have been changed in our air scrubbers.

Our air-quality monitoring system is getting some attention, too. ScienceWorks is home to three PurpleAir sensors, which monitor fine particulate matter in the air, including PM2.5 — the tiny particles that are especially important to track during wildfire smoke events. We're working with Oregon State University and Ashland Fire & Rescue to replace a sensor component so that our system can continue providing useful information about air quality in and around the museum.

Outside the building, Canopy Tree Service removed a few sick and dead trees, in addition to several trees that had been flagged by the Fire Department as a fire hazard. Most of those trees were right next to the museum entrance, so you’ll probably notice their absence the next time you visit. We put those wood chips to good use around our climbing walls, and we’re looking forward to giving the newly opened space a new purpose, too. Next month, we’ll receive native plants from the Xerces Society that will be planted in this area, helping us create a healthier, more welcoming landscape around the museum entrance.

The first of many facility improvements

Some of this work is our usual post-summer maintenance. Other projects are part of a larger effort to improve our building and make it safer, more accessible, and more sustainable for the future.

We're grateful to the Given Family Foundation for supporting recent facility improvements, including the replacement of the museum's aging water fountains, and extensive roof repairs.

The new water fountain is ADA compliant and includes a water bottle filling station. This project grew in part from an accessibility assessment conducted by Wheel the World. When their team visited ScienceWorks last year, they identified our existing water fountains as an area that did not meet current ADA standards. Their assessment also helped us better understand the many ways our building already supports visitors with different access needs, and where we can continue to improve. We're grateful for the thoughtful work they did with us and for the opportunity to turn their recommendations into real action.

The water fountain and roof work are just the beginning. A Challenge Grant from the Bolger Family Foundation will support additional facility improvements as that funding becomes available for use. Over the coming months, we'll continue working through a list of projects designed to improve the safety, accessibility, functionality, and longevity of our building.

A new chapter for the ScienceWorks theater

We're also looking ahead to an exciting renovation of our theater. We're working to secure grant funding for a major upgrade that will include a new 4K projector and a Dolby Atmos surround sound system, creating an enhanced experience for films, presentations, educational programs, and special events.

Once the renovation is complete, the theater will also be available as one of our facility rental spaces, giving community organizations and other groups a new option for meetings, presentations, screenings, and events.

We're excited about the possibilities — and grateful for the grant opportunities that are helping us move this project forward.

Taking care of the place where curiosity happens

It's easy to think about ScienceWorks in terms of the things visitors see: the exhibits, the Tinkering Studio, the Art in STEAM Gallery, the climbing walls, the classrooms, and all the activities that happen here every day.

But behind every one of those experiences is a building and outdoor space that need care.

Our facility is the home base for everything we do. It's where children build and experiment, where families spend time together, where students come on field trips, where educators teach, where artists exhibit their work, and where our community gathers.

And keeping that space welcoming takes a community, too. We're looking for volunteers who enjoy working outdoors and would like to help with garden maintenance and other projects around the museum grounds. We have plenty of weeds to pull, plants to tend, and outdoor spaces that could use some attention. If getting your hands dirty and helping ScienceWorks look its best sounds like your kind of afternoon, we'd love to hear from you!

As we look toward ScienceWorks' 25th anniversary in 2027, we're thinking not only about how to create great experiences inside this building, but also about how to make sure the building itself is ready to serve our community for many years to come.

So while the museum may be quieter for a few days a week, there's a lot happening behind the scenes — and we're grateful to everyone who helps keep ScienceWorks a welcoming place to explore, experiment, and get curious.