The Museum of Natural History at the University of Michigan is scheduled to open in a brand new $261-million Biological Sciences Building (BSB) on April 14.
After being closed since December 2017, the museum, which is a part of the university’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, will feature displays and specimens in the state-of-the-art learning facility when it reopens.
The new Museum site will feature two 70-year-old puma sculptures in front of the building, a 25-foot Quetzalcoatlus pterosaur flying inside its atrium, a high-tech planetarium and dome theater, a Fossil Prep Lab, and a showcase presenting research by its students for new visitors.
“We were very intentional about locating the museum within the Biological Sciences Building,” Chris Poulsen, associate dean of natural sciences, said.
“At U-M, we are strongly committed to breaking down barriers to create a space for science to be interactive, engaging, and transcendent. This is a very exciting and historic moment for us, our students, and visitors from around Michigan and the world.”
The 312,000-square-foot building also consists of research labs, classrooms and administrative offices, and already houses the university’s Museums of Paleontology and Zoology which are not yet open to the public.
The museum will house two additional exhibits about the natural history of Michigan and the world of microbiology beginning in November 2019 as well.
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