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| Don Harrington Discovery Center | |
|---|---|
| Name | Don Harrington Discovery Center |
| Established | 1984 |
| Location | Amarillo, Texas |
| Type | Science museum |
Don Harrington Discovery Center is a science museum and planetarium located in Amarillo, Texas, founded to promote informal science learning and public engagement with astronomy, physics, and natural history. The center operates a planetarium, hands-on exhibit galleries, and outreach programs that serve families, schools, and visitors from the Texas Panhandle and surrounding states. It collaborates with regional institutions, cultural organizations, and national agencies to deliver STEM-focused experiences and community events.
The initiative to establish the center drew support from local philanthropists and civic leaders in Amarillo, including benefactors tied to the Harrington family and regional foundations connected to the Texas Panhandle. Early planning engaged consultants and designers who had worked with museums such as the Smithsonian Institution, Exploratorium, and Children's Museum of Houston to develop interactive exhibits. The facility opened in the 1980s and subsequently evolved through capital campaigns influenced by donors from the energy sector, ties to institutions like Amarillo Globe-News benefactors, and partnerships with educational bodies including Amarillo College and regional public-school districts. Over time the center hosted traveling exhibitions similar to those circulated by the American Museum of Natural History and collaborated with observatories such as the McDonald Observatory and agencies like NASA for special programming. Renovations in later decades mirrored trends at institutions like the Franklin Institute, the California Academy of Sciences, and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science to modernize galleries and the planetarium dome.
The complex includes a planetarium dome, discovery galleries, a temporary-exhibit gallery, and maker-space zones designed for experiential learning. The planetarium has hosted fulldome presentations comparable to productions offered by Adler Planetarium and Hayden Planetarium programming, and has been used for astronomy lectures featuring topics present in publications from the American Astronomical Society and partnerships with observatories such as Kitt Peak National Observatory. Exhibit themes have included space exploration narratives tied to Apollo 11, life sciences displays akin to those at the Field Museum, and physics interactives inspired by exhibits at the Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago). The center's hands-on areas have paralleled programs at the Children's Museum Indianapolis, Boston Museum of Science, and Pacific Science Center. Temporary exhibits have been secured through networks like the Association of Science-Technology Centers and touring exhibits organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.
Educational offerings target early childhood through secondary educators and include curriculum-aligned field trips, teacher professional development, and summer camps modeled after programs seen at the Discovery Center Museum and university outreach programs at institutions such as Texas Tech University and University of Texas at Austin. The center coordinates lesson modules that reflect standards promoted by organizations like the National Science Teaching Association and partners with statewide initiatives linked to the Texas Education Agency. Astronomy nights, citizen science projects, and workshops have been developed in collaboration with entities including Planetary Society chapters, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and university astronomy departments. Internship and volunteer programs echo practicum structures from museums such as the Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago) and Exploratorium.
The center conducts mobile outreach to schools, libraries, and community centers across the Texas Panhandle, working with municipal governments like the City of Amarillo and nonprofit networks such as the United Way and local chapters of Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of the USA. Special events connect to regional cultural festivals, performing arts organizations like the Amarillo Symphony, and historic venues including the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum. Collaborative projects have included summer literacy initiatives with public library systems, STEM nights with civic groups, and disaster-preparedness demonstrations with agencies such as the Red Cross and county emergency management offices. The center also convenes public lectures featuring speakers affiliated with institutions like Rice University, Princeton University, and Texas A&M University.
The center is governed by a board of directors composed of local business leaders, educators, and nonprofit professionals, reflecting governance models similar to those at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and regional cultural institutions. Funding streams include admissions revenue, membership programs, corporate sponsorships from energy and agribusiness firms common in the Amarillo region, philanthropic grants from foundations akin to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and regional family foundations, and competitive grants from federal agencies such as National Science Foundation and programmatic support from NASA. Capital campaigns and endowment gifts have underwritten expansions, with fiscal oversight practices comparable to peer organizations like the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and the Dallas Museum of Art.
The center has received acknowledgments from regional tourism bureaus and education consortia, and has been cited in local media like the Amarillo Globe-News for contributions to science outreach. Its planetarium programming and exhibition design have been recognized at conferences hosted by the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the American Alliance of Museums, and staff have presented at meetings of the National Science Teachers Association and the Texas Alliance for Geographic Education. The institution has been part of collaborative grants and awards administered by entities such as the Institute of Museum and Library Services and regional economic development organizations.
Category:Museums in Amarillo, Texas Category:Science museums in Texas