putting the stars on display

By Madeleine Thompson

The American Museum of Natural History put its brightest stars on display last week to talk up its planned Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium, hosted a panel discussion with experts and scientists who have been involved in the planning process — and touched on how important the museum was to him as a kid growing up in the city. It was the first update on the Gilder Center after several relatively quiet months.

More than a year of contentious public meetings ended in disappointment for community opposition groups when Community Board 7 and the Landmarks Preservation Commission overwhelmingly approved the Gilder Center plans in October. But on Jan. 11, the museum presented more details about the expansion that reveal its intended exhibits and educational components. “When [scientific] knowledge is presented in the way that we do at this institution, it can become wisdom,” Tyson said in praise of the museum and the Gilder Center project. “Wisdom for how to treat your environment, how to think about the future of this planet that has sustained our species for so many millions of years.”

The key exhibits that will be housed in the Gilder Center include a 21,000 square-foot Collections Core display of 3.9 million specimens, an insectarium and butterfly vivarium, and an immersive “Invisible Worlds” theater using state-of-the-art technology to explore human perceptions of space and time. There will be three new classrooms for middle schoolers, and six classrooms for elementary students will be renovated in the museum complex connected to the Gilder Center. The existing Research Library and Learning Center will be more accessible to the public, and will have new space for hosting programs and for adult learning. Lisa Gugenheim, a senior vice president at the museum, described the Gilder Center as an “opportunity for learners of all ages to see science.” “What’s really amazing about the Gilder Center is that while everyone might not be able to meet [our scientists], they’ll be able to discover their own practice of science, of critical thinking,” Guggenheim said. “For the first time we’re going to have spaces that are specially meant to support learners across their lifespan.”

The museum has now raised more than $277 million of the $340 million projected cost of the Gilder Center, with $81 million from public sources. “We are extremely gratified by this support, which signals a commitment by city and state officials, individuals, corporations and foundations, to meeting the need for new and more sophisticated education and exhibition facilities,” said museum president Ellen Futter.

The use of public funds has been a sticking point for community groups opposed to the Gilder Center since the beginning, and they have not given up the fight despite the project’s smooth approval process so far. In early December, Community United to Protect Theodore Roosevelt Park held a meeting to announce their newly hired attorney Michael Hiller. “What you have to do is stand and fight,” Hiller said at the time, indicating that a legal battle may yet ensue. Neighborhood concerns about the Gilder Center began with plans for it to encroach on a quarter-acre of Theodore Roosevelt Park, but include sustainability, increased traffic congestion and the design of the new building.

The Gilder Center is expected to open in 2020, in conjunction with the museum’s 150th anniversary. The next phase of the process, completion and review of the Environmental Impact Statement, is tentatively scheduled for this spring.

Madeleine Thompson can be reached at newsreporter@strausnews.com