There's good news and unfortunate news involving the newly reopened Michigan Science Center, a guest columnist writes in the digital magazine Bridge.
The tech-focused attraction in Detroit's Cultural Center reopened late last month after a 15-month shutdown for financial reasons.
Kurt Metzger, founder of Data Driven Detroit, an economic and business research consultancy, welcomes that news -- "having been a member when my children were growing up" and it was called the Detroit Science Center. But at the e-magazine from the Center for Michigan, he adds:
I must temper that pleasure to a degree. . . .
Detroit youth need access to a science center located in the center of the city as much or more than any other children. However, access for them requires that an adult (anyone over 12 years of age) pay $12.95, while those ages 2 to 12 years pay $9.95. Additional fees apply to attractions such as IMAX and planetarium shows, as well as special exhibitions.
Metzger, a former Census Bureau specialist locally, reinforces his commentary with data.
With half of Detroit households living on less than $25,000 per year and 57 percent of children living in poverty, how can a single mother with a young child and a teenager be expected to set aside $35.85 for admission alone? School field trip resources have dwindled . . . so that access is limited, as well.
Now that corporations, foundations and personal donors pitched in to bolster the center, Metzger hopes "we can come together as a city and region to figure out how we can help those who can benefit most to access science on someone else’s dime."
