Omaha’s newest attraction on the riverfront is scheduled to open April 15.  

Located just south of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, the Kiewit Luminarium science museum hopes to provide the Omaha community with STEM opportunities it hasn’t had access to in the past. 

The 82,000 square-foot facility can accommodate 2,000-3,000 visitors and will be a place of “learning and wonder for everyone,” said Luminarium CEO Silva Raker. “These exhibits don’t necessarily feel like science exhibits. They feel like playful, engaging experiences.” 

The exhibits will have four main themes: universal phenomena, built structures, mathematical concepts and deep exploration of one’s identity. Numerous amenities and attractions are waiting for visitors to test them out. 

The museum will have a cafe on its main floor called Fig that will serve food to the museum’s guests. It will also host adult-only wine nights every Thursday night, beginning April 20, called Nite Lite. 

One exhibit shows how sound can be amplified based on the geometry of a dish by allowing visitors to hear someone speaking on the other side of the room, 50-feet away, when they are sitting in a chair surrounded by the concave dish. 

Visitors can see how a bell goes silent when the air surrounding it is removed. This creates a vacuum and sound cannot be produced.  

At another exhibit they can pour water on a frozen glass pane and look through a magnifying glass to watch the beauty and symmetry of ice crystals forming.  

Visitors will also be able to release a drop of water into a cup and take by-the-millisecond photos of the water formations caused by the splash. 

Museum staff known as “Luminators” will be available to guide visitors through the hands-on exhibits and activities. The “Luminator” program gives 50-60 youth and young adults peer-to-peer mentorship and work experience.  

“When we think about diversity it’s not just about ethnicity, it’s about accessibility, it’s about knowledge,” said Luminarium Experience Manager Braxton Crowder. “We have people who know nothing about STEM. We have some that know a lot.” 

Five years ago, when the philanthropists behind the RiverFront Revitalization Project were considering the kinds of amenities they wanted to include, they were looking for something that could draw people into the area all year-round. 

A science museum came into focus and Heritage Omaha, the philanthropic organization that is behind dozens of major civic projects in Omaha over the past three decades, agreed to privately raise all the funding for the facility. They partnered with San Francisco’s Exploratorium to develop the center’s exhibits and programming.  

“Having this place be designed and developed during the last three years, when there’s massive change happening in the world at large based on the pandemic, based on reckoning with social justice,” said Raker. “There are opportunities that we have actually been able to take advantage of working with the community.” 

Ticket sales will begin in the next few weeks, and they will be available through the Luminarium’s website.  

Lewis and Clark Landing will still be under construction when the Luminarium opens, but Douglas Street will be open along with the free parking lots to the west of the museum. 

“We’re in an amazing world filled with beauty and curiosity,” said Raker. “It’s not something we’re serving up, it’s something we’re making together.”