Vermont Business Magazine On Wednesday, July 7, Representative Peter Welch will be at the Fairbanks Museum to lend his support to the Fairbanks Museum’s planned Tang Science Annex. The 6,000-square-foot addition provides space for hands-on science exhibits, makes the Museum accessible, and will be the future home of the Community College of Vermont’s St Johnsbury site. Additionally, the Science Annex, as Vermont’s demonstration mass timber building, is designed to showcase the innovative use of local forest products.
Representative Welch selected the Science Annex as one of 10 community projects in Vermont for funding in the FY2022 Appropriations Bill. The $2.47 million appropriation through the US Department of Agriculture’s Community Facilities program is contingent on the federal budgeting process.
“Museums both reflect and shape our communities,” Welch said recently. “In that spirit, this project will serve as an investment not just in the future of the Fairbanks Museum, but in St Johnsbury as a whole. This critical, increased funding will help create local jobs while making the museum’s innovative new offerings more accessible to all.”
“This project addresses education, accessibility, and community,” says Fairbanks Museum Executive Director Adam Kane. The Tang Science Annex will be a 6000-square foot, three-story addition to the Museum's courtyard, behind the main building. The addition will house two galleries with hands-on earth and atmospheric science exhibits, while the balcony will focus on astronomy. Everything about the Science Annex will inspire generations of learners, including its innovative mass timber construction.
Chair of the Museum’s Board of Trustees, Ed Vilandrie comments, “The project is also about community and jobs.” It is estimated that the construction and increased tourism will add 70 new jobs over the coming 5 years. With increased space for education, the Museum has entered into a partnership with the Community College of Vermont that creates an integrated learning hub.
Eric Law, USDA’s Community Program Director for New Hampshire and Vermont, voiced USDA’s support for the effort. “The Fairbanks Museum has been an important partner in furthering USDA Rural Development’s mission for years, so we’re proud to support its efforts to educate visitors about Vermont’s natural resources, including the vast potential of mass timber to invigorate our local and regional forest economy.”
Construction on the Science Annex will start next spring, and will be open to the public in late 2022.
Source: United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Development - VT/NH