ROANOKE, Va. – UPDATE
The Center in the Square has released a statement explaining why the Science Museum of Western Virginia will not have its lease renewed.
Tara Marciniak, president and general manager of Center in the Square, said the decision was driven primarily by ongoing issues related to the large amounts of water used by the museum’s exhibits.
Over the past five years, multiple preventable water leaks have damaged the building and disrupted other tenants, according to the statement. Marciniak stated that the most severe incident forced the Kids Square children’s museum to close for four months. The insurance claim from that damage totaled more than $830,000.
As a result, the building’s insurance company declined to renew the policy for the first time in Center in the Square’s history.
You can read the full statement from the Center in the Square below:
Our team at Center in the Square has seen that our community is interested in understanding why The Science Museum of Western Virginia’s lease will not be renewed by our nonprofit.
In full transparency, a few reasons led up to this decision.
The catalyst for our decision was that several of The Science Museum of Western Virginia’s exhibits utilize copious amounts of water. Housing exhibits requiring tremendous amounts of water have proven to be ones that are not logical to house on the fourth and fifth floors of Center in the Square. Over the past five years, multiple preventable water leak situations have negatively impacted our building as well as the operations of our tenants on the floors below.
The most devastating water leak caused our Kids Square children’s museum to close for a four-month period of time. Our insurance claim totaled upwards of $830,000 and for the first time in our history, that insurance company did not renew our contract due to this water damage claim. Center in the Square will now pay an additional $20,000 annually simply to maintain the same level of insurance we had previously with another company.
We have had multiple conversations with The Science Museum of Western Virginia’s leadership over the years related to their exhibits, their visions for the future, their ability to draw guests into Downtown Roanoke and more, and those conversations, coupled with the liability of their exhibits, have caused Center in the Square’s Executive Committee to determine that it is best for our nonprofit to reclaim the fourth and fifth floors to bring new, interactive exhibits to our guests at the end of the 2026 year.
We wish The Science Museum of Western Virginia well in their future endeavors.
Tara Marciniak
President and General Manager
Center in the Square
ORIGINAL STORY
Center in the Square confirmed on Monday that the Science Museum of Western Virginia is set to leave the Center in the Square location by the end of the year.
This brings an end to the two nonprofits’ partnership, which has lasted 42 years. The lease for the museum will expire on Dec. 31, 2026, resulting in Center in the Square reclaiming the fourth and fifth floors of the building.
“We can confirm that the Science Museum of Western Virginia’s lease is expiring on December 31st, 2026. We wish them much success in finding a new location and would be happy to find new ways to support them in their next space. Though our focus is to utilize the spaces within our buildings to bring people downtown, we understand the value of the Science Museum of Western Virginia’s outreach efforts and look forward to hearing about their future success in this area and beyond. We are looking forward to sharing more information about Center in the Square’s plans for the 4th and 5th floors in the months to come as we are passionate about creating interactive, educational environments that encourage guests to continue visiting Downtown Roanoke.”
Tara Marciniak, Center in the Square’s President and General Manager