Content area
Full Text
Outside the New York Hall of Science sits a new life-sized model of the Atlas rocket that blasted John Glenn into space. Inside the museum, a new 55,000-square-foot wing feels like a modern airport terminal by day. At night, its glow can be seen from the windows of planes landing at nearby La Guardia Airport.
After more than a decade of careful planning, the museum's $70 million expansion will finally open this November. It Will double the center's capacity for visitors, make room for a science teachers' training program, and hopefully increase revenue by almost 50%.
Yet despite the excitement, a small problem has been dogging the acclaimed science and technology center in Corona Park, Queens. The museum needs to find the money to actually run the new space.
"We're taking a gamble here," says Alan Friedman, director of the Hall of Science. "No one wants to give operating money anymore.
The Hall of Science's conundrum bedevils the entire cultural community of New York City these days. While it's possible even seemingly easy in some cases - to raise huge sums of money to build, attracting unrestricted funding to operate the expansions is harder than ever before.
"I cannot tell you how hard it is to raise money for general operations," says Margaret Ayers, executive director at the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation. "People want to see something for the investment they've agreed to contribute."
Funding for the...