SANTA ANA : Plans Unveiled for Science Center

Santa Margarita High School student Kelly Crean’s wavy brown hair was literally standing on end Thursday morning as Discovery Museum officials used a Van de Graaff generator to send a positive charge straight through the giggling teen-ager.

The 30-second demonstration, which Crean described as “rad,” highlighted a one-hour press conference to announce plans for the museum’s ambitious, $37.5-million science center, a facility that will feature hands-on exhibits like the generator, an electrostatic device that creates a magnetic field and causes similar forces to repel each other.

“I was kind of hoping I would be the one to help with the experiment,” joked Supervisor Roger R. Stanton. “I was told it had some hair-restoration power.”

Stanton was one of several county and city officials who pledged their support for the new center, which museum officials said will be a world-class facility and feature exhibits at a level of those at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington.

They hope the facility, scheduled to open in late 1994, will help local students become more interested in science.

“We want the center to create enthusiasm among the kids of today,” said Robert W. Howard, chairman of the Discovery Museum’s board of directors. “There are over 300 science museums in the United States and we want this one to take from the best of those and really be on the cutting edge.”

The 71,000-square-foot facility will be built on a 3-acre site on Main Street between 10th and 20th streets, land which currently serves as a parking lot for the Bowers Museum.

The center will include exhibits focusing on health, space and flight, communications and the environment. It will also feature an IMAX Theater where educational films will be shown on a seven-story screen.

Educational programs will also allow prominent scientists, industry professionals, teachers and the center’s staff to present courses, lectures and demonstrations, Howard said.

So far, museum officials have received more than $14 million in donations and pledges. The biggest bulk comes from the city of Santa Ana, which has donated 3 acres of land and will build a parking structure for the center.

“We are deeply proud to be home to this exciting new project,” said Mayor Daniel H. Young, who attended the press conference along with three members of the City Council.

A donation of $750,000 has come from the county and a total of $1.3 million has been donated by the McDonnell Douglas Foundation and from the company’s employee community fund.