The construction of the Magic City Discovery Center is giving a new look to Minot’s North Hill. The nearly $20 million project remains on schedule for building completion in mid-summer and for opening before the end of the year, according to Wendy Keller, executive director for the center.

Keller said there have been some anticipated cold weather delays and also some of the same supply chain issues that all construction projects are experiencing. But it has been exciting to see work move along quickly with the warmer weather, she said.

The center is set to open in November or December once exhibits are installed.

“We have over 150 interactive exhibits,” Keller said, noting that fabricating and then placing all the exhibits is a challenging process. Staff training also will be necessary before the exhibits open.

The discovery center has been hiring for two educators to assist with existing outreach efforts and summer camps. Liz Weeks, education and outreach director, has been heavily engaged in working with contractors on the coming exhibits and will be even busier once installation begins.

“There’s an awful lot of work behind the scenes that has to happen,” Keller said. “There’s so, so much to it and the exhibits are not something you can just go and pick off the shelf. We’ve really created them to be specific to North Dakota.”

The Magic Climber will be slices of North Dakota, with a prairie dog burrow, oil derrick, wildlife and B-52 plane. But other exhibits also will be geared to North Dakota, such as the camping, snowman building, ice fishing, ice skating, sledding and tree climbing features in the Outside My Window gallery.

The center will have 12 galleries, with different types of learning stations within each. For instance, the move gallery will be all about simple machines, pulleys and levers. The built gallery will have a crane that children can use to move items.

Sneak peaks at the exhibits are posted weekly on the Magic City Discovery Center’s Facebook page.

The Magic City Discovery Center will have one of nine Spark!Labs affiliated with the Smithsonian and Lemelson Center in the country.

Originally intending to build a science center for children up to about age 10, the board discovered there is a great deal of interest in the community in having a place of learning for youth into their teens. The Spark!Lab, with its invention and problem-solving focus, is part of making that appeal to older children.

The rooftop is being developed to allow not only for a great view but for educational sessions on constellations, planets and weather. The center board has partnered with the Souris Valley Amateur Radio Association to have the group install an antenna that will allow for communication with the international space station and other astronauts.

Keller said it is just one of the many partnerships the discovery center board is forming within the community.

The discovery center has been conducting educational programs over the past several years as the board has planned for a science center.

“We wanted people to have the ability to realize the benefit now and to put their toes in the water and to be able to understand what a children’s museum was,” Keller said. “We are not trying to take over the formal education. We’re trying to supplement it and make it even better.”

She said schools are eager for another way to spark that excitement about learning and to be able to do so close to home.

To increase accessibility by special needs children, the new discovery center will have times set aside for lower sensory activities, with fewer children present. The center also will be accessible to children in wheelchairs, who can go to the air traffic control area and communicate with the “pilots” in the B-52 “so that they’re immersed in it. They feel like they’re part of the experience,” Keller said.

Construction funding is coming from federal, state and city dollars as well as the support of local businesses and community donors. The building is being constructed on Minot Park District land, which the district is leasing to the discovery center for $1 a year.

The discovery center has extended the deadline in its hexagon tile campaign, a fundraiser in which people can purchase a tile for $125 and then paint or have their children paint them. The personalized tiles will be incorporated into the center’s construction for permanent display. People can contact Margie’s Art Glass Studio at 837-8555 to participate.

Major donors also will be recognized on a Wall of Honor.

As North Dakota’s other larger communities also look at initiatives for science centers, the state has potential to increase its ability to attract tourists and generate interest among North Dakota families in seeking out what each community has to offer, Keller said.

“Children are hungry for education and learning, and it really behooves the whole state to have enough supply for that demand,” she said.