50th Anniversary

#SCI50th: As we celebrate 50 years of inspiration and impact at the Science Center of Iowa, we are sharing stories and memories of how SCI was established, grew and continues to serve the next generation. View the timeline and stories at www.sciowa.org/50th

He wasn’t an engineer or an artist, yet Turner helped build some of the most iconic exhibits at the science center

In 1985, Jon Turner was working as a contractor when he got a job installing a new countertop in the breakroom at the Des Moines Center of Science and Industry. 

That simple job set off a long career with SCI, during which time he created more than 200 exhibits for what became the Science Center of Iowa. Turner designed everything from Downhill Racers, an exhibit using weights and gravity, to a giant Ice Age exhibit that used semi-trucks full of styrofoam that he built and sculpted into the set. 

He wasn’t an engineer or an artist, yet Turner helped build some of the most iconic exhibits at the science center, such as "Zog Bones and His Colossal Fossils" and the Challenger Learning Center.

Turner helped put together replicas of dinosaurs and sea creatures and, as is often the case with nonprofit museums, whatever was needed. The replicas often came in pieces, so he would help screw them together and apply paint touch-ups after they were rebuilt.

He also built smaller exhibits -- hundreds of them -- that allowed children to participate in hands-on learning.

In its early days, Turner said the science center was inspired by the Exploratorium in San Francisco, which was created by the Oppenheimer brothers. The brothers were famous for their work on the Manhattan Project.

"They started this museum for kids and people in San Francisco, and everything in the entire place was interactive. There was always something to push or pull," Turner said. "Their mantra was, 'Let's build this as cheaply and as efficiently as we can. We don't need a lot of floss or big signage; all that we want is for people to come in and understand the science.'"

Their approach resonated, so while Turner was working for the science center in Iowa, he started building those types of pieces, too. His goal was for there to be a station any child could walk up to and use, even if there were 100 other children in the building.

What’s more, he built TWO of almost everything he designed so he could replace the machine on the floor, should it break.

He remembers designing the stations while kneeling so he be "in the shoes" of the kids. 

The science center offered more than that, too. 

Turner said that, at one point, visitors could access the Challenger Learning Center, a laser show and a dinosaur show all with one ticket.

"It was amazing," Turner said of the old center that sat in Greenwood Park. "I mean like 200,000 people or something went to the place and on Saturday nights, and it would be all hands on deck. We would sell out of gift shop stuff and every show we had on."

#SCI50th: As we celebrate 50 years of inspiration and impact at the Science Center of Iowa, we are sharing stories and memories of how SCI was established, grew and continues to serve the next generation. View the timeline and stories at www.sciowa.org/50th

Judy Miller: "I really enjoyed it, and I just became more involved and more involved."

Judy Miller remembers when a member of the Junior League — the group that formed the original Des Moines Center of Science and Industry — came knocking on her Des Moines door one day in 1968.   

The member carried an invitation, which she describes as an honor, to join the Junior League. It was how she became one of the 70 women who voted whether to build the first science center in Des Moines. 

The idea to build a science center had already sprouted by the time Miller joined the Junior League, but as a former elementary school teacher, she remembers the excitement behind a mission to build a museum that encourages hands-on learning. 

Katie Meredith headed a fundraising team for the project and others began searching for a building site. There were some properties near Broadlawns Hospital the group was interested in, Miller recalled, but that didn’t work out. The group eventually settled on land in Greenwood-Ashworth Park. 

It took a few years before the first science center in Des Moines opened its doors, but enthusiastic volunteer committees were formed and were ready to assist the staff in any way needed. Miller was put in charge of buying items for the gift shop.    

Others helped to provide programs and exhibits, and somebody heard that many museums were providing live demonstrations every half-hour on different subjects that people could watch and were hands-on.   

Miller said committee members went out to some of these museums to learn about them and came back and said, "We think this is what we should do for programming."

One of the topics the group wanted the programs to focus on was health, and Miller’s father happened to be a doctor.   

She volunteered to be a health demonstrator and wrote several scripts.  Programs spiraled from there to involve the planetarium, physic experiments, live animals that were kept in the building and a nature trail. 

"I really enjoyed it, and I just became more involved and more involved and wound up running it all," she said of the educational programs at the center. And she did. Miller was eventually named director of educational programs at the center.  

One of her favorite jobs was expanding SCI’s summer camps. By moving the camps to Merrill Middle School and hiring 20 college interns as instructors, SCI was able to provide hands-on science activities for a large number of campers. 

One of her interns was Sara Nelson, who initially applied because she felt like science was one of her weaker subjects. The camps were a turning point for her.   

Nelson now holds a masters degree in science education, a PhD in curriculum and instruction and works as an extension program specialist who helps introduce science, technology, engineering and math subjects to elementary students. 

"I really feel that what we started has been a wonderful addition to Des Moines and the state of Iowa," Miller said. 

Miller stayed at the science center until 2000, when she retired and passed on the excitement for a new and even better educational museum.