The Science Museum of Virginia ( SMV) is a state-agency science center with a statewide mission.  Since Northern Virginia is one of the nation's largest metropolitan areas without a hands-on science center, it is a natural opportunity for the creation of a new science center in support of schools, general visitation, and tourism.  The Museum will be a world class building with a state of the art IMAX theatre. George Mason University will have classrooms and labs at the museum for their masters program.

The new Belmont Bay Science Center will utilize as a theme, "The Unity and Diversity of Life," with an emphasis on supporting Virginia's Science Standards of Learning in Life Science.

The Science Museum of Virginia also hopes to create synergistic partnerships with many different local entities such as the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the area's school systems, George Mason University and private industry.

Overarching Goal: 

"A science center should affect us all with a compelling desire to visit, see, explore, engage, and have fun.  When we walk away, it is from a memorable experience - a learning experience.  The science center design we create must, at its heart, change lives." 

~Dr. Walter R. T. Witschey, Director, Science Museum of Virginia

Currently, we are still in fundraising stages through a PPEA:

PPEA is the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act. It was passed in 2002 by the General Assembly to allow agencies, institutions, and localities to form partnerships with the private sector. Through these partnerships, the public and private sectors work together to complete major projects, like building new schools and jails, to serve the public interest. The law was amended in 2003 to include information technology (IT) infrastructure projects, like building new data centers.

Through the Public-Private partnership, we hope to achieve our goal of building a world-class, state-of-the-art science education facility right here in Belmont Bay. 

If you would like to learn more about the Science Museum of Virginia check out their website at www.smv.org. or www.bblsc.org.