The Buffalo Museum of Science will be marking its 90th anniversary this year by restoring a key section of its historic building overlooking the Kensington Expressway.
The East Side Corridor Economic Development fund that Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on March 12 includes $2.6 million for the Buffalo Museum of Science. President and CEO Marisa Wigglesworth says most of the funding will go towards restoring the staircase, the original entrance and the façade on the north side of the building.
“That entrance has been closed for decades, so we are just really thrilled with what it is a transformative investment from the state from the governor to restore that historic façade,” Wigglesworth said.
Wigglesworth says it’s a great opportunity to plan for the future of the building, including using the restored staircase as a gathering place for the community.
“People will come out and enjoy the park. They can come out and sit on the steps and watch people. We can do programming on those front stairs. We will absolutely use the stairs and invite the other community organizations to benefit from using the stairs,” she added.
Other work includes sealing up the museum with new storm windows and improving accessibility by installing push-buttons on entrance doors.
“We also will have the opportunity to improve security throughout the building for our staff, our volunteers, our guests, and our collection to make sure that our internal security standards are really contemporary,” Wigglesworth said.
Wigglesworth says the improvements to the Buffalo Museum of Science are expected to get underway this summer.
