Da Vinci Science Center at PPL Pavilion (DSC) in Allentown, PA offers interactive exhibits, hands-on learning experiences, and innovative educational programs designed to spark curiosity, inspire creativity, and prepare students for future careers in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math). DSC serves as a community hub for lifelong learning to foster a vibrant, inclusive, forward-thinking ecosystem in the Lehigh Valley

Central to the vision for the 67,292 square foot center was the local community’s involvement in creating welcoming, affordable experiences for all. The site was selected because of its proximity to urban neighborhoods with a concentration of low-income, under-employed households, and residents traditionally underrepresented in STEAM. The 30,000 square feet of interactive exhibits were developed by 200+ scientists, engineers, and healthcare professionals working closely with Da Vinci staff and exhibit designers. Educators, students, and families provided exhibit input to prepare students to meet PA science and Career Education and Workforce Standards. Over 300 Lehigh Valley Children’s Centers Inc. students helped create the mural for the exterior façade.

Building DSC required tremendous collaboration between the science center, architects, the construction manager, exhibit designers, and corporate and community partners to imagine, design and build a public space with unique experiences that entertain and educate. The urban setting surrounded by existing businesses, a parking garage and a school presented challenges requiring tremendous innovation and teamwork.

The Lehigh River Watershed’s Pocono Ravine required installing a major water-based exhibit above the front entrance and working with theme park designers to create realistic cliffs, trees, and terrain surrounding pools of water.

Curiosity Hall features a 54-foot gallery where visitors create digital animations at massive scale requiring space design and installation of state-of-the-art projection systems to create an immersive experience accessible from multiple vantage points at ground level.

The LVHN Mi Cuerpo | My Body exhibit, codesigned by over 60 healthcare subject matter experts, includes a three-level climbing structure, also accessible via elevator. Medical devices, a public health simulator, and numerous sensory-based experiences for interactive sound, smell and visual optimization required significant partner involvement.

The Science in the Making (SIM) gallery illustrates science applied in manufacturing, showcasing local industry and career opportunities. The SIM design and build involved teams of professionals (e.g. Bosch Rexroth built a hydraulic Tyrannosaurus Rex; Victaulic’s pipe organ). The 17,000-pound Mack Trucks electric garbage truck prototype designed for New York City exhibit required steel supports beneath the floor and was moved into position before the building envelope was complete using industrial air skates.

The traveling exhibit gallery had to accommodate distinct layouts and electrical and lighting requirements for several new build-ins per year, providing safety for staff and students.

The 9,679 square foot STEAM Learning Center (four fully-equipped classrooms, Fab Lab, Media Production Studio, and Early Learning Center) required specialized electrical, exhaust, and lighting requirements to accommodate digital fabrication, media, and AV equipment.

Da Vinci Science Center’s new downtown Allentown location provides a dual language (Spanish/English) world-class resource for STEAM learning, increases access for those traditionally underrepresented in STEAM, and contributes to the region’s investment in a 21st-century workforce. DSC is intentionally built within the Neighborhood Investment Zone (NIZ), an area defined by decades of economic decline and disinvestment, to address persistent systemic injustices that have made it difficult for children growing up in the neighborhoods adjacent to the new Da Vinci Science Center to imagine and pursue family-sustaining jobs in STEAM fields despite such opportunities being in high demand within the Lehigh Valley.

Concurrently, the Lehigh Valley region is experiencing unprecedented growth, with the region’s leading STEAM employers reporting high demand for skilled workers and a disconnect between the skills required for job openings that they currently have and those of the residents of the impact area. The Lehigh Valley economy is diversified, with the largest employers in health care and logistics, with the growing advanced manufacturing and life sciences sectors pushing the region into one of the top 50 largest manufacturing markets in the U.S. To build a future pipeline of skilled workers, recommendations in the 2022 Lehigh Valley Economic Development Talent Study include exposing students to careers and career pathways; increasing opportunities for internships and work opportunities; expanding partnerships between schools and employers; and focusing on employability and soft skills, technical skills, STEAM skills, and short-term immediate training.

There are many challenges to preparing students in the target service area for STEAM studies and careers. 56% of residents speak languages other than English at home (5-year 2016-20/ACS). According to the PA Department of Education, in 2022-23, 73.5% of students in the Allentown School District (ASD) were Hispanic/Latino and 12.0% were African-American; 78.8% were economically disadvantaged; and 100% of students received Free/Reduced Lunch. In 2022-2023, the average math proficiency of ASD students on Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) tests was 13.5% compared with the PA public school average of 37%, and the average reading proficiency of ASD students was 23.534% compared with the PA public school average of 55% (Public School Review). In 2022-23, 47.3% of 4th grade students and 21.3% of 8th grade students in the ASD scored proficient or above on PSSA science tests. Also, students of color have historically had less success pursuing higher education. Census data shows that 16.6% of residents 25 years of age or older in the target service area have earned an associates degree or higher and 10.0% have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher, the latter compared with 35.1% in Pennsylvania.

For students, fostering an interest in STEAM education at a young age and building on that interest with programs that develop confidence and skills as they get older will help prepare them to pursue STEAM studies and careers. For area residents, education and career development can help them better their circumstances and attain higher, family-sustaining wages.

Project Partners:

• Owner – Da Vinci Science Center
• Developer – Alvin H. Butz
• Architect – MKSD Architects
• Structural Engineer – Barry Isett and Associates
• Mechanical Engineer – HB Engineers
• General Contractor – EMS Consulting
• General Contractor – Roto Group