Getting close
Posted on Saturday, September 6, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/65435/
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Ask just about anyone in northwest Arkansas what comes to mind when they hear the word “ museum, ” and odds are they’re going to say the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
It’s not every day a region has a premier art institution built from the ground up. And it’s even less often such a facility is erected in 100 acres of woods.
But Crystal Bridges, being constructed in northeast Bentonville, isn’t the only museum being planned here.
Plans are coming together for a Northwest Arkansas Children’s Museum and a 130, 000-square-foot science museum, both of which have been looking at potential locations to build in Benton and Washington counties.
Brent Robinson, interim executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Museum Foundation, indicated the group may be close to deciding on a site for the science museum.
“ The site process has been extremely thorough, ” Robinson said. “ We started with 21 potential sites. We narrowed that to five finalists and fairly quickly narrowed our focus to three frontrunners. I can say that we’ll be announcing what our selection will be soon. We’re just making sure all our T’s are crossed and our I’s are dotted. ”
The Northwest Arkansas Museum Foundation, founded by the late John Lewis, a prominent northwest Arkansas resident for decades, began its quest to bring a science museum to the area in 2004. Lewis died in 2007, but his mission has continued.
Lewis’ original vision was captured in a quote posted on the foundation’s Web site: “ We want to create a world-class science center that will inspire children in the sciences, enable our adults to navigate the 21 st century, and we’ll do all this through the lens of the Ozarks, our people, our culture, our innovations. ”
Robinson said the foundation is in the process of updating its Web site and that an organized public announcement of the site will be held. He would not say whether the three finalist sites were in Benton or Washington county.
“ If every domino were to fall into place, we could be looking at opening in 2012, ” Robinson told The Daily Record earlier this year. “ We looked at sites all up and down the I-540 corridor. Crystal Bridges would be drawing people from around the world, while a science museum would bring more regional visitors and attract schools from all over, even outside Arkansas. ”
Robinson said the science museum could potentially draw 140, 000 visitors per year.