RICHMOND, Va. — The first addition to the Science Museum of Virginia’s campus in three decades is beginning to go vertical.
A construction crane loomed over the former Broad Street Station train depot last week as crews continued work on the steel frame of the future Dewey Gottwald Center, a community event and exhibition facility.
The 21,000-square-foot structure, on the Leigh Street side of the museum building, will serve as a location for the museum’s large-scale traveling exhibitions during the summer months and as a venue for community events the rest of the year.
“From September until April each year, we will host a number of special events for the community – both large and small – with the goal of continuing to expand our role as a community gathering space,” said Terri Rose, the museum’s communications director.
Construction started this spring and is slated to last a year, with the center scheduled to open in spring 2017.
The $12 million project was funded in part by a $4 million donation from the Herndon Foundation in honor of Floyd D. Gottwald Sr., the late patriarch of the Gottwald family and former chairman of Ethyl Corp., now NewMarket.
