Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, Science and arts center in Harrisburg, United States
The Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts is a multi-level facility in downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that brings together a science museum, a digital cinema, and a performance theater under one roof. The museum section features hands-on exhibits focused on science and technology, while the theater and cinema occupy separate spaces within the same building.
The center opened in 1999 and was named after industrialist Robert H. Whitaker and his wife Sheila, whose financial support helped make the project possible. It was built as part of a broader effort to bring education and the arts back to the heart of Harrisburg.
The Sunoco Performance Theater hosts several resident companies, including Theatre Harrisburg and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, which put on shows throughout the year. Visitors can catch local theater and dance productions in one place without traveling across the city.
The building sits in downtown Harrisburg and is easy to reach on foot from nearby hotels and public transit stops. If you plan to visit the museum and catch a show or screening, it is worth setting aside most of a day.
The cinema was originally built as an IMAX theater and later converted in 2014 to a digital projection system, which opened the door to a wider range of educational films not available through traditional IMAX formats. This shift gave the venue the ability to program titles that would otherwise never be shown locally.
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