Our Mission and History

Mission
The Discovery Center of Springfield is an interactive, hands-on museum committed to inspiring people of all ages with a life-long love of learning and an appreciation of the world and our place in it.

History
Since our incorporation in 1991, the Board of Directors of the Discovery Center has raised over $10 million in capital funds. These funds were used to purchase and renovate the building site in downtown Springfield in 1998, expand the facility in 2006, and design, fabricate and install exhibits. During the years 1992-1998, the DCS renovated the original facility in stages while holding classes and special events such as the JASON Project. The Discovery Center opened its doors to the public on January 25, 1998 with one programming area, a small summer workshop program and a handful of exhibits. In 2007, a second renovation and 30,000 square foot expansion doubled exhibit space and created the first "Green" building in Southwest Missouri.

We continue to grow, constantly adding innovative and educational, hands-on exhibits for our visitors and now offering 20 different classes for groups of students, 8 weeks of summer workshops for individual children, outreach programming, and distance learning through videoconferencing technology. In addition, we continue to offer our own educational events, host community projects, and offer birthday parties and rentals for various groups.

The DCS currently houses 60,000 square feet of interactive exhibit space. Exhibits and programs currently in place interweave a broad array of the hard sciences, technology, math, health, the environment, culture, art and communications. Specific traveling exhibits are brought in two to three times per year to keep the DCS environment fresh and exciting for visitors.

The Discovery Center of Springfield (DCS) is the only educational resource center of its kind, serving the schools and families of this region. Similarly, DCS is the only youth activity center in Southern Missouri that offers and utilizes such a wide range of exhibits, hands-on activities, special events and programs that explore such a broad spectrum of educational goals.