F-M Science Museum receives $300,000 grant from tourism organization

FARGO — The organization that promotes tourism in the F-M area has awarded a capital grant to the new F-M Science Museum.

The Board of Directors of Visit Fargo-Moorhead announced the $300,000 grant from its destination development fund on Friday, Oct. 25.

The grant will be paid in one installment to support the architectural design of the new museum.

The museum’s interim executive director, Jessie Rock, said the gift will move them through the architectural pre-design phase to the full schematic design of the facility.

She said the museum is grateful to receive this vote of confidence from such a respected local organization that represents the community.

“We hope this will inspire other local organizations and individuals to help us raise the funds to make this exciting project a reality,” Rock said.

A depiction of an exhibit in a science museum shows a circular — This artist’s rendering shows the concept for the “Into the Storm” exhibit at the future Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum, the center of which is a double “tornado slide.” The feature pays tribute to Ted Fujita, who developed the F-scale system to estimate tornado wind speeds following the 1957 Fargo tornado. A weather arcade above will use lights, sound and vibration to simulate various kinds of weather.

Charley Johnson, president and CEO of Visit Fargo-Moorhead, said the organization offers capital grants for projects like the F-M Science Museum that help bring visitors to the area.

“It’s going to be a great project. We certainly hope it comes to fruition in a timely fashion,” Johnson said.

The 60,000 square-foot F-M Science Museum is slated to open southwest of Scheels Arena in the fall of 2027.

Google map of Urban Plains area where new science museum will go — This map highlights the planned location of the new Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum, to be built in the south Fargo Urban Plains Development.

A major

“anchor” donation for the project came in August

— a $5 million gift from John Ballantyne, who co-founded biotechnology firm Aldevron 35 years ago.

Approximately $9 million has been raised for the museum thus far, Rock said at the time. Ballantyne

also donated $1 million to the project in 2022.

The capital campaign aims to raise $70 million, with $38 million devoted to building construction, $25 million for fabricating and installing exhibits and $7 million for operations and programs.

In July, the F-M Science Museum announced its first two main exhibits or zones, “Into the Storm” and “Breakthrough.”

In August, along with announcing Ballantyne’s latest donation, Rock revealed details of three other zones or features focused on science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM.

A brightly colored space is depicted with children and adults engaging in hands on aspects of science. A large purple dinosaur is perched on a table in the middle — The Science + Fiction space is depicted in this rendering of a future exhibit at the F-M Science Museum in Fargo.

They include a “Science + Fiction” zone, a techno dinosaur, and a free admission zone that celebrates local people in health care, medicine and biotechnology.

Johnson said the Visit F-M board invited the museum to make a pitch for an additional grant when the project nears the construction phase.

Visit Fargo-Moorhead is funded by a 3% local lodging tax collected on hotel rooms in Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo, Johnson said. Approximately 1% goes into the organization’s capital grant fund, he said.

Since 2012, the Visit Fargo-Moorhead Board has awarded more than $6 million in grants to tourism-related projects across the three cities, he said.

By
Robin Huebner

Huebner is a 35+ year veteran of broadcast and print journalism in Fargo-Moorhead.

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