The Maryland Science Center is the next Inner Harbor attraction to launch a major renovation.
Science Center officials have scheduled a ceremony for June 13 at 10 a.m. to break ground for improvements to their harbor-facing entrance plaza and to celebrate the building’s 50th anniversary. Gov. Wes Moore is one of the scheduled speakers.
Saturday’s event will take place exactly 50 years after the Science Center opened its doors at 601 Light Street on June 13, 1976. It opened three years before the Baltimore Convention Center did, four years before the Harborplace pavilions, and five years before the National Aquarium.
Science Center officials said details and renderings about the Harbor plaza renovation would be embargoed until the Saturday event. They said at an October 2024 news conference that the mostly brick main entrance will be turned into a landscaped green space with a sloping lawn, native plants, educational markers and a shade canopy.
Mahan Rykiel Associates is the lead designer for the plaza renovation, which was expected to cost $1 million to $1.5 million according to information released at the 2024 news conference. “Easy Landing,” a metal sculpture by Kenneth Snelson that’s part of Baltimore’s public art inventory, will remain in place.
The plaza renovation is the final phase of a large package of improvements that Science Center leaders set out to complete in conjunction with its 50th anniversary.
In October of 2024, they announced a $10 million fund drive called “Transforming Our Future: 50th Anniversary Campaign” for capital improvements and programs designed to improve the visitor experience and commemorate the anniversary. As of May 2026, they have raised $15.2 million – 50 percent more than the original goal.
Capital improvement projects already complete at the Science Center include:
Space, presented by Northrop Grumman: A new 5,000-square-foot hands-on exhibit on space exploration where visitors explore such concepts as infinity, distance, speed, force, and gravity.
Make, presented by The Kahlert Foundation: A second floor DIY area with 36 workstations for activities that blend science, engineering, and art or creating a prototype for an inventive object.
Demonstration Stage, presented by Calvert Hall: Relocation and expansion of the Demonstration Stage to accommodate more visitors and provide a more flexible environment for daily educator-led science explorations.
Design, Build, Test, presented by IBEW Local 24: An expansion of the Kids Room with building experiences for children up to age 8.
Dinosaur Mysteries: Renovation of the Dinosaur exhibit with new technology, graphics, lighting and hands-on components.
Programs designed to enhance access to the Science Center include:
Access Science (ongoing): A program that offers $5 admission on weekends during the school year and during the summer for Marylanders with a Maryland SNAP or Maryland WIC card. More than 4,300 people from all Maryland counties have participated in this program.
Science Beyond the Classroom, powered by Constellation (ongoing): An extension of free admission for Maryland schoolchildren and chaperones through 2030. In this current school year, Science Center officials anticipate that more than 95,000 children and chaperones will visit for free on field trips.
MSC Across Maryland (ongoing): A program that allows more Marylanders across the state to experience informal, hands-on STEM education as the Science Center participates in and hosts events in their communities.
Funds also have been used to renovate restrooms, upgrade the Science Center’s heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems and make the building more energy efficient.
The groundbreaking ceremony will kick off a day-long celebration of the Science Center’s 50th anniversary on June 13. Actual work is expected to start in the fall so the property won’t be a construction zone during the summer tourist season.
The Kenneth Snelson sulpture is one of Baltimore’s treasures!