The EcoTarium is a science and nature museum located in Worcester, Massachusetts . Previously known as the New England Science Center, the museum features several permanent and traveling exhibits, the Alden Planetarium, a narrow-gauge train pulled by a scale model of an 1860s steam engine, and a variety of wildlife.
7-950: The EcoTarium was founded in 1825 as the Worcester Lyceum of Natural History. The first spaces dedicated to the museum were the Natural History Rooms in the Worcester Bank Block on Foster Street; in 1891 the museum and its collection moved to the Old Edwin Conant Mansion at the corner of State and Harvard streets. As its collection grew, the museum moved to the Frederick Daniels House and the Rice House at in Worcester in 1954. The final move took place in 1971 to
14-414: A combination of clapboards and decorative shingles. It has porches on the first and second floors, with decorative posts that have jigsawn brackets at the top. The entry porch, set on the left side of the house, has a starburst motif in a gable above its main stairs; a second starburst is found above the street-facing first-floor window. The house was built about 1885. Its first owner, Frederick Daniels,
21-656: A new building, designed by Edward Durell Stone , built on 60 acres (240,000 m) of donated land. At this point the name of the museum was changed to the Worcester Science Center, then to the New England Science Center in 1986, then the EcoTarium in 1998 as it began a two-year $ 18 million expansion and renovation project. On June 13, 2011, the museum's polar bear , Kenda, was euthanized after developing kidney disease . Following
28-548: Is a historic house at 148 Lincoln Street in Worcester, Massachusetts . Built about 1885, it is a well-preserved example of Queen Anne Victorian architecture, home to Frederick H. Daniels before he became president of Washburn and Moen, a leading Worcester industrial firm. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The Frederick Daniels House is located northeast of downtown Worcester, in
35-426: The city's Brittan Square neighborhood. It is on the left side of Lincoln Street ( Massachusetts Route 70 ), just south of Perkins Street. It is a 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -story structure, with a brick first floor and wood-frame upper levels, covered by a complex gabled roof. The ground floor is trimmed with terra cotta panels and sandstone, with windows set in segmented-arch openings, while the upper floors are finished in
42-459: The launch of its "Third Century Plan," the museum announced it would transform the area formerly occupied by Kenda into "Wildcat Station." In June 2016, the museum began a $ 9.1 million "Third Century Plan" to fund improvements to its exhibits, programming, and infrastructure, including adding two permanent exhibits, replacing its co-generation plant with a modern energy-efficient mechanical plant, and upgrading its Explorer Express Train. Exhibits at
49-455: The museum include: Other exhibits at the EcoTarium discuss African communities, minerals, forests, and water. The museum also features a digital planetarium, and various outdoor wildlife exhibits. See also: Higher Education Consortium of Central Massachusetts 42°15′50.8″N 71°46′00.5″W / 42.264111°N 71.766806°W / 42.264111; -71.766806 Frederick Daniels House The Frederick Daniels House
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