McWane Science Center
McWane Science Center is a museum in Alabama, at a modelled elevation of 180 m. Bald Rock Mountain stands 475 m to the east-northeast, 23 miles off. The nearest named place is Eddie Kendrick Memorial Park, a park 0.1 miles away. Alabama's Stagecoach Route Through Leeds passes 11 miles off.
The story
The McWane Science Center (formerly known as the McWane Center) is a science museum and research archive located in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The state-of-the-art hands-on science center, aquarium, and 250-seat IMAX Dome Theater is housed in the historic and refurbished Loveman's department store building. It opened to the public on July 11, 1998. On the lower level, the World of Water exhibit showcases more than 50 species of marine and freshwater aquatic life. There is a touch tank with different species of small sharks and rays. There are also shark teeth that can be observed under a microscope and different displays about water pollution. The Alabama Collections Center (on the second floor) is the home of more than 500,000 items from the former Red Mountain Museum and Discovery Place. The center houses precious minerals, fossils, and Native American artifacts, the most noteworthy including the world's fourth-largest collection of mosasaurs; the Appalachiosaurus (similar to Tyrannosaurus); and the state fossil of Alabama, the Basilosaurus cetoides (an 80-foot or 24-metre fossil whale). For smaller children there is the Itty Bitty Magic City exhibit (on the second floor), featuring a climbing structure, a water play area, an area specifically for toddlers, and an area with smaller versions of common buildings in a city. The model buildings are all made to help younger children learn skills, or to connect with their parents. One example is a model grocery store where children can learn about the main food groups while "shopping" with their parents. The exhibit opened on May 16, 2015, and was a remodeling of an older early childhood play place with the same name previously located on the third floor. The McWane Science Center is named after the McWane family and McWane, Inc., both of which helped fund the center. It was built on the site of the former Louis Saks department store.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Dates from 1998.
Wikidata Q6802755, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What to expect
- Fee
- Yes
- Step-free access
- Yes
How to reach it
- 10.8 mi off the Alabama's Stagecoach Route Through Leeds
Named places within 25 miles
- Eddie Kendrick Memorial Park: 0.1 mi
- 4th Avenue History Park: 0.2 mi
- Kelly Ingram Park: 0.3 mi
- Railroad Park: 0.4 mi
- Linn Park: 0.4 mi
- Shades Mountain: 4.2 mi
- Irish Hill: 5.0 mi
- Cat Mountain: 5.8 mi
- Little Valley Mountain: 6.4 mi
- Lassiter Mountain: 7.4 mi
- Heaviest Corner on Earth: 0.2 mi
- Steelworker: 0.5 mi
- Donor Memorial: 0.8 mi
- The Storyteller: 1.2 mi
- Decil’s Fountain: 1.2 mi
- Museum of Fond Memories at Reed Books: 0.2 mi
- Birmingham Museum of Art: 0.5 mi
- Alabama Sports Hall of Fame: 0.8 mi
- Vulcan Museum: 1.8 mi
- Arlington Antebellum Home and Gardens: 2.0 mi
- Sculpture Garden: 0.5 mi
- Jones Valley Teaching Farm: 0.8 mi
- UAB Upperclassmen Green: 1.2 mi
- Blazer Gardens: 1.3 mi
- Avondale Rose Garden: 2.1 mi
- Magic City Sign: 0.3 mi
- Complex Vision Mozaic: 0.9 mi
- Blaze: 1.0 mi
- Five Points South: 1.2 mi
- Vulcan: 1.8 mi
- Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark: 1.0 mi
- Vulcan: 1.8 mi
- Irondale Public Library: 7.2 mi
- Maggie's Glen: 12.9 mi
- Camp Tranquility Main Entrance: 12.9 mi
- Cannon Pavillion: 15.8 mi
- Tilton Arbor: 15.8 mi
- Front Porch: 15.8 mi
- Judson Day Gazeebo: 15.9 mi
- Lifeguard Gazeebo: 15.9 mi
- Ruffner Mountain: 7.3 mi
- Moss Rock Preserve: 9.2 mi
- Turkey Creek Nature Preserve: 14.4 mi
- Turkey Creek Nature Preserve: 14.8 mi
- Bolton-Orr Ecological Preserve at Ebenezer Wetlands: 23.8 mi
- Laurel Point: 15.6 mi
- Falling Rock: 24.2 mi
- Bike Repair: 9.0 mi
- Spoonwood Lake Beach: 12.9 mi
- Peavine Falls: 14.8 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 24.4 miles of McWane Science Center. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bald Rock Mountain | ENE 74° | 475 m | 23.1 mi |
| Signal Mountain | ESE 122° | 460 m | 15.4 mi |
| Sand Mountain | ESE 113° | 447 m | 16.4 mi |
| Butler Mountain | NE 38° | 430 m | 18.0 mi |
| Foster Mountain | NE 39° | 421 m | 17.5 mi |
| Cahaba Mountain | NE 45° | 419 m | 22.8 mi |
| Black Oak Mountain | NE 39° | 413 m | 16.7 mi |
| Praytor Mountain | NE 40° | 411 m | 18.1 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 06:52 | 18:26 | 18:59 |
| June solstice | 05:38 | 19:24 | 20:01 |
| September equinox | 06:36 | 18:13 | 18:46 |
| December solstice | 06:48 | 16:06 | 16:44 |
Local time (America/Chicago).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Mar–Jun, Sep–Nov.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 45 | 49 | 56 | 64 | 72 | 78 | 82 | 81 | 76 | 65 | 54 | 47 |
| Precip in | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 4.9 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Birmingham AP, 5 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOfficial siteOpenStreetMap element way/129478064
Day trips start here
- Rickwood Caverns State Park · 25 mi
Take the scenic way to McWane Science Center.
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