Mobius Science, the nonprofit thats seeking to build a science center just north of downtown, say its on track to reach its fundraising goals so that construction on the project can start next year.


The planned $33 million, 53,000-square-foot Mobius Science Center is to be located on city-owned land on the north bank of the Spokane River, just north of Riverfront Park. Plans call for the center to include a 7,800-square-foot IMAX theater and nearly 25,000 square feet of exhibit space, with the remainder devoted to classroom, laboratory, and office space, says Jim Karel, president of Mobius Science.


We want it to inspire kids to go into the sciences so that they can be competitive in the world market, says Anne Cowles, who heads the organizations steering committee. It will be a lab for the whole community.


Under conditions set by the city, Mobius must obtain 80 percent of its funding before it can start construction. The organization, which reached its first benchmark of raising $4 million by last May, expects to reach its next goal of raising an additional $10 million by this May, says Cowles, who is a member of the family that owns Cowles Co., a subsidiary of which owns the Journal of Business. She says shes confident that the group will be able to raise enough money so construction can start in time to allow the center to open in the fall of 2010.


The center was first proposed in 2002 by a nonprofit group named Inland Northwest Science & Technology Center. In 2005, that group merged with the Childrens Museum of Spokane to form Mobius Science. Also that year, the organization moved and reopened the childrens museum as Mobius Kids in the basement of River Park Square.


The organizations name was derived from a 19th century German mathematician, August Mobius, who invented the Mobius stripa flat, rectangular strip that twists to form a continuous loop.


The Spokane Park Board, which has arranged a long-term lease with Mobius for a 5-acre site for the planned center, approved a business and fundraising plan for the project in 2006. The board set timelines and other requirements for the project, saying that Mobius must open the facility by November 2010 or lose its lease.


The principal architect for the center is William McDonough, a renowned architect from Virginia who specializes in green design and who once said the Spokane River is the most beautiful urban river in the country, Karel says. McDonoughs local partner in the project is Spokane-based Integrus Architecture PS, he says. Mobius hasnt selected a contractor yet.


This summer, Mobius issued a request for proposals for an exhibit designer. It received 30 responses, and now has narrowed the field to two candidates, Karel says. Mobius plans to select a designer within the next few weeks, he says. That designer will take the educational goals Mobius has established for its exhibits, as well as some ideas for specific kinds of exhibits, and develop them into hands-on activities, he says. Forty percent of the exhibits will rotate on a regular basis.


This wont be a science museum filled with dioramas; it will be focused on experience-based learning, Cowles says. Kids will think of it as an entertainment center.


The overall theme of the exhibits will put a regional bent on four main scientific topics, partly so that Mobius can draw from the expertise and highlight the achievements of local scientific and technological experts, she says.


One main topicthe human bodywill reflect the Spokane areas status as a regional medical center. Another topicour home and citywill focus on subjects such as computer science, biomedical technology, and renewable energy. The third topicthe natural worldwill focus particularly on water issues, given the proximity to the center of the Spokane River, but also will touch on industries here such as mining and agriculture.


The fourth topicour universewill focus on astronomy, and will include a section about Michael Anderson, the Spokane-area native and astronaut who perished aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003. In honor of Anderson, the science center will be part of a new Michael Anderson Plaza, and his statue will be moved there from its current spot at the INB Performing Arts Center.


Michael Anderson is the embodiment of what were trying to do, Cowles says. He was a kid from Cheney who was fascinated with flying, and was able to achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut for NASA.


By providing a hands-on learning environment for youths, the science center will be an additional resource for teachers, Karel says.


Sarah Beemer, head of government and community relations for Mobius, says the group also hopes that by promoting the sciences among young people here, science-related companies eventually will have an expanded local pool of skilled workers from which to draw.


Were trying to create a homegrown labor force, Beemer says.


Beemer, who has been promoting the project to school and government officials, traveled to Olympia with Greater Spokane Incorporated last month to lobby the Legislature for money for the center. Gov. Chris Gregoire recommended in her proposed supplemental budget that the state provide $1.2 million for the project, Beemer says.


Beemer credits the growing popularity of Mobius Kids, which now has more than 1,800 members, for opening doors for fundraising efforts for the science center. Similar to Mobius Kids, the science center will offer educational programs at its own facility, as well as traveling exhibits and outreach programs to schools, community centers, and civic groups, Karel says.


We really want it to be the scientific hub for Spokane, and for the region, he says.


Mobius Science Center backers also hope the center will spur economic growth downtown by attracting more tourists and commercial investors to the new facility, which will be nestled between the Kendall Yards project to the west, the downtown core to the south, and the University District to the east. Part of the plan for the center will be to sublease out part of the property for commercial development, with rent collected from tenants used to pay part of the centers operating costs, Cowles says.


Mobius also will seek to make the center self-sustaining by using revenue generated from a new IMAX theater, which will be attached to the science center, to cover operating costs, she says. Revenue from admissions to the center, which will be similar to the price of a movie ticket, also will be used to cover those costs, she says.


In addition, the organization plans to pay for operating expenses through revenue from its educational outreach programs and through grants and fundraising events, Karel says.


Mobius is waiting for the design of the center to be completed before adopting an operating budget, which will include long-term maintenance, Karel says.


He says that the funds Mobius is raising during its capital campaign will include operating reserves for the first four years, and that Mobius expects to be cash-flow positive in its fifth year.


Mobius backers found after talking with directors of science centers elsewhere that the two key elements to a successful center are an attached IMAX theater and adjacent parking, Cowles says. Karel says that while the site has ample parking space, plans might call for underground parking as well.


Contact Emily Proffitt at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyp@spokanejournal.com.