Nearing two years in its downtown location, the Da Vinci Science Center is “experiencing growing pains,” falling significantly short of its projected visitor goals.
That led to the organization letting go of staff and establishing a “marketing task force,” but officials now say they are hopeful about the destination’s future.
Opened in 2024 at the PPL Pavilion on Hamilton Street, the new center has three times the amount of exhibit space as its former location at Cedar Crest College, and was built after attendance increased 70% from 2009-15.
Center officials originally projected that the Hamilton Street science museum would bring in 400,000 visitors annually. However, its first fiscal year fell short of that by over 60%, bringing in 168,000 visitors. The shortfall led to the center letting go of around 15% of its staff in the fall, which CEO Lin Erickson said was a “really difficult decision.”
“Our original goals were really ambitious; the initial year was not perhaps what we hoped for,” Erickson acknowledged, though she added that the center has had “tremendous momentum” in recent months and is on a path to financial sustainability.
The center received millions in public funds, including $20 million in bonds from Allentown’s Neighborhood Improvement Zone and $14 million in federal and state grants. It also benefited from private sponsorships with PPL Corp. and Lehigh Valley Health Network.
Erickson and Marketing Director Tamara Krizek suspect the center’s slow start can be attributed to overly ambitious projected attendance numbers, which were conceived of pre-COVID, as well as a relatively sluggish economy that has consumers spending money more cautiously than in years past, and a lack of awareness about the new site.
Tony Iannelli, CEO of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, said he is “surprised” at the lower-than-expected attendance at the new site.
“They certainly have an outstanding legacy and really solid leadership, both from a staff and volunteer standpoint, I am actually quite surprised that the numbers are what they are,” Iannelli said. “Hopefully like any new location, it takes time for people to become aware and comfortable with the new site.”
Erickson said the organization is addressing the shortfall. Its board of trustees established a “marketing task force” to come up with strategies to attract more visitors. It is looking to partner with organizations like Discover Lehigh Valley and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms to bring new audiences to the museum.
The center recently had a successful event partnered with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra: The “Become a Musician” exhibit featured a performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony by the orchestra paired with interactive kiosks.
“We had a preview night, and many of the people that came were symphony patrons, they aren’t necessarily Da Vinci Science Center patrons,” Erickson said. “So that’s a way of expanding the audience to potentially older audiences — symphony, music, aficionados.”
Da Vinci also has begun the search for its next CEO; Erickson will retire this summer. The center’s trustees have formed a search committee seeking a new leader “who can provide steady leadership and help position the organization for long-term stability and impact,” according to a news release.
Despite the first-year shortfall, leaders of the center have some reason for optimism.
It saw its best month of attendance in its 21-year history in December, drawing in just under 10,000 visitors to its permanent and special exhibits including a popular one devoted to the children’s show “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.” The center also has found success with one-off events like Ice Cream Wars, a dessert competition that drew in over 2,500 people last month, the center’s best single-day attendance yet.
Da Vinci Science Center employee Tom Prostko performs a demonstration featuring liquid nitrogen Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, during Ice Cream Wars at Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown. The annual event features Lehigh Valley businesses creating unique flavors of ice cream, with attendees casting votes to determine the champion. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Another possible boon to the center is the Downtown Allentown Alliance, a newly launched organization that aims to inject more vibrancy and interest to the city’s downtown region.
Matthew Malozi, chair of the Downtown Allentown Alliance’s board of trustees, said that despite assets like the Da Vinci Science Center, three music venues, the Allentown Art Museum and more, downtown Allentown has struggled to maintain a “sustained vibrancy” and interest from visitors.
The alliance is looking to remedy that via its “ambassadors” program, in which volunteers are dispatched throughout the downtown area during peak visitor hours to provide directions, recommendations and a warm welcome to visitors. The alliance will couple that effort with “activation” plans during strategic times and events, like an ice cream truck and face paint set up outside of the Da Vinci Science Center on the weekends, or street musicians performing before a PPL Center concert.
“When visitors come downtown, we want them to have a good experience — I think anyone would agree, word of mouth is best advertising,” Malozi said. “If a family comes to the Da Vinci Center and they say, ‘crossing the street, one of these ambassadors helped us get across, we have 3 kids,’ they go and tell their neighbors, people at their kids’ school say, ‘we should plan a trip downtown.’ “
Da Vinci leaders also emphasized that the center is more than just a tourist attraction: It is a learning facility for children of all ages. The site has reached 55,000 school-aged children with programs and visits via partnerships with local school districts including Allentown, Parkland, Easton, Whitehall, Bethlehem and others.
The center also has a first-of-its-kind partnership with Allentown’s Central Elementary; students from the school visit the center at least once a week to explore its exhibits and use its “Fab Lab” workshop, media studio, classrooms and other spaces.
Therefore, Krizek, the marketing director, said, the center’s success is not measured solely by attendance numbers but by the academic achievements of the students it serves — something that is harder to directly measure.
“We are not a theme park. [Attendance] is not the only thing we measure our success on,” Krizek said. “And our academic performance with the Allentown School District, with the District Connect members that we have, with the community outreach programs that we have, that go out to schools and community centers and parks, and what have you, is a strong testament to the power of informal education centers, and how they help support our overall education program in the Valley.”
Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.