Rockville Science Center Considers Site for Permanent Home

The property in the Rockville Town Center is currently a parking lot

Site that the Rockville Science Center is considering for its permanent home Via Rockville Science Center

The Rockville Science Center is eying a property at 41 Maryland Ave. as the potential site of its permanent home.

The board of trustees for the center and city of Rockville officials are in talks with owners of the property about designing, developing and constructing a science center at the site, which sits at the corner of Maryland Avenue and Middle Lane.

“A newly constructed facility located in the heart of Rockville Town Center promises to meet ALL of the Science Center’s present and future programmatic needs and achieve the RSC’s goal of creating a dynamic interactive facility in Rockville that will serve as a regional destination for science enthusiasts of all ages,” the trustees board wrote in a Wednesday newsletter to center supporters.

A surface parking lot currently covers most of the property, which is owned by Lodging Partners LLC, according to state land records.

The nonprofit Rockville Science Center was founded in 2009, and its staff work at the Johns Hopkins University’s Montgomery County Campus in Rockville.

The center holds monthly science cafes in local restaurants to encourage people to discuss the latest in science and technology. A similar event geared toward youth brings in science professionals who talk about their careers. The center also runs a robotics program for young people and summer camps for elementary and middle school students.

Neither center representatives nor the property owners were immediately available for comment.