OH WOW! expansion underway
Neighbors | Submitted .Jan Strasfeld, executive director of the Youngstown Foundation, and Suzanne Barbati, executive director of OH WOW! are shown standing in the new 3,000-square-foot exhibit area in the Center’s lower level. Work on the new space began this week.
After two years of operation, more than 79,000 explorers, 5,000 members, 474 educational field trips and 235 birthday celebrations have visited OH WOW!’s state of the art facility in downtown Youngstown.
As a result, OH WOW! The Roger and Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science and Technology is announcing a 3,000 square foot expansion that will include a new exhibit area dedicated to making things, and a second classroom. Oh Wow! was awarded a $25,000 grant from the Youngstown Foundation.
“We are extremely excited to bring this project to our community, and very much appreciate the support of The Youngstown Foundation, which continues to be a leader in coordinating resources to promote positive change – meeting the needs of our residents now and for generations to come,” said Suzanne Barbati, president and executive director of OH WOW!
The expansion is being developed in collaboration with OH WOW!’s educational and manufacturing partners, primarily dedicated to the ‘plan, do, check, act’ cycle. Barbati said the primary goal of the exhibit is to provide a safe environment for children and their families to work through this real-world process.
“We want to encourage our visitors to understand the process of generating an idea, and the successes and failures that come with making that idea a reality.”
The need for the expansion project was identified in OH WOW!’s second strategic plan. The center is also working on web site remodeling, bringing in health and wellness traveling exhibitions and a new Energy WOW! Zone on the main exhibit floor.
For more information, contact Suzanne Barbati at 330-744-5914.