NANTUCKET – The Maria Mitchell Association is celebrating the opening of a new research center.
The new center opened after a multi-year renovation of their former science library on Vestal Street.
The Association says the new space will provide updated research and classroom space and a state-of-the-art new home for the group’s biological collections of the flora and fauna found on the island over the last 100 years.
Fundraising for the $1.2 million project started in 2014. Nantucket voters largely funded the exterior building work with Community Preservation Act money.
“This is an exciting time for the Maria Mitchell Association, especially given that this year marks the 200th birthday of Maria Mitchell. The research center will provide year round space for hands on learning, a style of education that Maria Mitchell embraced,” ssaid David Gagnon, the Executive Director of the Maria Mitchell Association.
Maria Mitchell was the first woman astronomer in America and discovered a telescopic comet from a Nantucket roof in 1847.
About CapeCod.com NewsCenter
