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Incorporated 1987 — opened 5 November 1995
Founding: Science Central was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1987 — originally the Science Collective of Northeast Indiana — by teachers, parents, engineers, and community leaders who wanted a hands-on science discovery center for the region's children. For its first years it ran programs in schools and public spaces without a building. In 1991 it obtained the old City Light & Power plant at 1950 North Clinton Street, the municipal power station of 1929 that had stood decaying since the utility era ended, and renovated it for about 9 million dollars (9.2 million in one account). Science Central opened its doors on 5 November 1995, keeping the plant's machinery, piping, and its five smokestacks — painted in bright colors — as part of the exhibit fabric.
Scale: The 70,000-square-foot building holds more than 200 hands-on exhibits across some 35,000 square feet of exhibit space, and the center calls itself the only science center in the region and the most-visited museum in Fort Wayne, drawing approximately 135,000 visitors a year and serving 31 counties in the tri-state area through outreach. The opening debt nearly sank it: by 2007, when executive director Martin Fisher arrived, the organization was nearing financial collapse under the cost of the renovation; it recovered, completed a 1.6-million-dollar Science On a Sphere project in 2013, and in March 2026 opened a 3.2-million-dollar planetarium, billed as the region's only public planetarium.
Sources:
- Science Central, Fact Sheet (sciencecentral.org, updated 20 January 2025) — opened 5 November 1995 in the 1929 City Light and Power building, 70,000 square feet, original renovation and exhibits 9 million dollars, the 2013 Science On a Sphere project, "the most-visited Fort Wayne museum."
- Input Fort Wayne, profile of Martin Fisher — incorporation in 1987, the November 1995 opening in the former City Light and Power building, about 135,000 visitors a year and 200 exhibits, the near-collapse of 2007.
- Visit Fort Wayne — the building obtained in 1991, a 9.2-million-dollar renovation.
- Islands (2026) — the planetarium opened March 2026 at 3.2 million dollars.