|  LOS
ANGELES (September 3, 2003)--Wallis Annenberg, Vice
President of The Annenberg Foundation, announced Wednesday,
during a meeting of the California Science Center Foundation
Board of Trustees, a grant from The Annenberg Foundation
of $25 million in support of the California Science
Center’s award-winning Master Plan and Phase II
expansion. Positioned as a challenge grant, to be matched
dollar-for-dollar from other private and public sources,
the contribution is the single largest gift in the history
of the Science Center. Combined with Annenberg's earlier
planning grants to the project of $6 million, her total
contribution ($31 million) is believed to be the largest
private gift ever to a contemporary science center in
the U.S.
The
gift marks a milestone in the Science Center’s
Phase II campaign to expand its facilities, exhibitions
and education programs, boosting the total amount of
public and private funds secured to date to approximately
$77 million, or more than 50 percent toward the overall
funding goal of $140 million.
Annenberg,
who serves as Co-Chair of the Science Center’s
Phase II Campaign, stated, “Since its opening
in 1998, the Science Center has consistently demonstrated
a remarkable capacity for creating innovative science
learning experiences and programs that are accessible
to all segments of our community. This gift will ensure
that the Science Center is able to continue its important
work as a leader in developing high quality programming
for families, teachers and students.”
California
Science Center President and CEO, Jeffrey Rudolph, hailed
Annenberg's generosity and leadership, “This gift
from Wallis ensures that we will be able to continue
momentum on our Master Plan and provide unprecedented
science learning opportunities. The two additional Phase
II Campaign Co-Chairs, G. Bradford Jones, Managing Director,
Redpoint Ventures and Kent Kresa, Chairman, Northrop
Grumman Corporation, join me in thanking Wallis for
her extraordinary investment in the future of the Science
Center.”
Realization
of the challenge will enable the Science Center to initiate
construction on the World of Ecology (nearly doubling
the size of the Science Center's exhibition space),
as well as complete the modernization and programming
designed for the historic Armory Building.
Historic
Armory Building to be Named After Annenberg
In
recognition of Annenberg's generosity and support, the
Science Center’s Board of Directors voted to rename
the historic Armory Building as the Wallis Annenberg
Building for Science Learning and Innovation.
Guided
by the distinguished architect, Thomas Mayne, the renovation
and re-invention of the Armory Building, located near
the corner of Exposition Blvd. and Figueroa Blvd., began
in February 2002 and is scheduled for completion by
the summer of 2004. In its new configuration, the Wallis
Annenberg Building for Science Learning and Innovation
will feature state-of-the art science classrooms and
lab spaces, a portion of the Science Center School (a
charter school affiliated with the Los Angeles Unified
School District), teacher training facilities, the Amgen
Center for Science Learning including the Science Center’s
school, community outreach and public programs, a NASA
Educator Resource Center, the Kent and Joyce Kresa Educator
Resource Hall, and the Big Lab, a grand open-air space
that features thought-provoking experimentation platforms
for improving the understanding and teaching of science
concepts.
Bonnie
Van Dorn, Executive Director of the Association of Science-Technology
Centers notes, “Wallis Annenberg's remarkable
generosity constitutes a transformational moment in
the advancement of contemporary science centers/museums.
It has the potential of changing the way the entire
field is viewed by the philanthropic community.”
The
California Science Center is considered to be among
the premiere science centers in the world. It has received
more than 7.7 million visitors since its grand opening
in February 1998. The mission of the Science Center
is to stimulate curiosity and inspire science learning
in everyone by creating fun, memorable experiences.
The Annenberg Foundation exists to advance the public
well-being through improved communication. As the principal
means of achieving this goal, the Foundation encourages
the development of more effective ways to share ideas
and knowledge.
Editor's
Note: The California Science Center
is located at 700 State Drive – Exposition Park,
Los Angeles .Enter visitor parking at 39th & Figueroa;
parking is $6 per car. Activities are on all three floors
of the Science Center. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. Admission to Science Center exhibits is free; for
general information, phone 323.SCIENCE (323.724-3623)
or visit our website at http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/.
Both the Science Center and IMAX Theater are wheelchair
accessible.
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