Thank you for choosing to visit the Rocky Mount Children's Museum & Science Center (CMSC). According to the Informal Science Review, "science museums now form a significant part of the educational infrastructure". Facilities like the Rocky Mount Children's Museum and Science Center function in a sense as experiential libraries of science. Science museums and other informal science institutions systematically provide a variety of services that go beyond the traditional one-day school visits. Science museums encourage visitors to "do science." One only has to look at the exhibits and activities available at the Museum to see how science touches each of our lives on a daily basis.

Science and technology museums help make learning fun for than 100 million visitors each year. Consider this:

• For the price of renting a newly released video, a parent and one child can visit the Children's Museum and Science Center;
• For the price of one person's admission to a movie theater, the entire family can visit the Children's Museum and Science Center;
• For the price of a family's visit to a fast food restaurant, the entire family can visit the Children's Museum and Science Center twice or even three times.

Isn't that a small price to pay for a couple of hours of quality time that will benefit your children (and you too) for a lifetime?

HOURS OF OPERATION
Monday	Closed
Tuesday - Saturday	10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday	1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
ADMISSION FEES
Children ages 2 and under	FREE
Children ages 3 - 15	$3.00
Adults ages 16 - 59	$4.00
Adults ages 59 and above	$3.00
Planetarium (all ages)	$3.50
Museum Members	FREE

NEW Sunday Fun Day Admission:
Free For Everyone Every Sunday Afternoon (1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.)

The Rocky Mount Children's Museum and Science Center; Department of Parks and Recreation is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 p.m., and Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is FREE Sunday Fun Day from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The museum is closed on Mondays.

HOLIDAY HOURS
The Imperial Centre for the Arts and Sciences is closed on
Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

Candy L. Madrid	Museum Director
Leigh White	Curator of Education
Frank S. Armstrong	Curator of Exhibits
Tabitha Grant	Museum Secretary
Steve Schmidt	Space Science Educator

The mission of the Rocky Mount Children's Museum and Science Center is to raise awareness in those we serve of their global connection and "unique place in space" by encouraging their participation in science, mathematics, and technology. (adopted by the City of Rocky Mount Parks and Recreation Department, March 2003).

The Rocky Mount Children's Museum and Science Center (CMSC), founded in 1952, was one of our nation's first children's museums. The museum has provided exceptional hands-on science education to the people of eastern NC for over fifty years. Thousands of visitors, of all ages, visit the museum each year to learn more about science, mathematics, and technology through interactive exhibits, programs and activities. Programs and exhibits offered by the museum encompass all areas of science and technology, from archaeology to zoology.

The preliminary concept and plan for the CMSC was initiated by the Rocky Mount Jaycees and Junior Guild. Each group raised and donated the initial funds to get the original museum on its way and the museum was given space to operate in the basement of the old Braswell Library in downtown Rocky Mount. The museum quickly outgrew this space and was moved to the Sanitarium Nurses' Dormitory. Unfortunately, there was no heat in the building and many days were spent teaching to bundled-up and huddled students. Again, Rocky Mount's Junior Guild assumed a leadership role and raised five thousand dollars to build the fledgling museum a new and permanent home. On Easter Sunday, 1954, the CMSC opened its doors to the public in beautiful Sunset Park.

Since that time the CMSC (now a Division of the City of Rocky Mount Parks and Recreation Department) has continued to grow and develop. In 1967, approximately 3,000 additional square feet were added to the museum. This addition was designed primarily as new exhibit space with a small area being allocated for administrative areas. Then, in 1971, the Rocky Mount Civitans assumed the responsibility of helping outfit the museum's 20 ft. planetarium - making it the first planetarium east of Raleigh. Over the years, many other innovative exhibits and displays were also added, thanks to the City of Rocky Mount, the Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative, the State of North Carolina, Rocky Mount's Junior Guild and Civitans, and other generous organizations.

In 1999, the CMSC was poised to break ground on the largest expansion in the museum's history when flooding from Hurricane Floyd destroyed the building and all of its exhibits and collections, including eighteen live animals. Even though the losses were great, the commitment to rebuild made by the City and its citizens has been equally great. Acknowledging the likelihood of future flooding, the City Council decided not to rebuild at the old site in Sunset Park. The former Imperial Tobacco Factory site in downtown Rocky Mount, in combination with the adjacent old Braswell Memorial Library site (where the museum first began) has been designated as the new permanent location for the CMSC. Conceptual plans for the new facility make use of a large portion of the old tobacco factory and the entire old library, thus preserving links with Rocky Mount's past while building a bright new future.