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Perot Museum’s planned Dallas campus adds weather lab, habitat garden
The Perot Museum plans a $185 million expansion that would double its downtown footprint to 4 acres, with an outdoor science laboratory among the new features. Construction is expected to start early next year, with the project targeted for completion by late 2028.
The Perot Museum of Nature and Science plans to expand its downtown Dallas campus to 4 acres, doubling its current footprint with a project expected to be finished by late 2028.
The $185 million expansion will add an outdoor living laboratory with about 25 large-scale exhibits and demonstrations, including wind gusts, thunder, fire tornadoes and water vortexes. Plans also call for a paleontology garden, pollinator habitat and shaded river designed to teach visitors about biodiversity and ecological systems.
The project includes updates to the museum’s lobby and event spaces, as well as changes to parking. Construction is slated to begin early next year.
The museum says the expansion could bring in 400,000 additional visitors each year. It has raised $135 million toward the project’s funding goal, leaving $50 million still to be secured.
The museum, which opened in 2012, points to Texas’ growing demand for science education, saying STEM employment in the state is growing at twice the national rate. Mike Spiewak, the museum’s vice president of exhibitions, said the project is intended to make science discovery feel active and unexpected.