Science Museum of Virginia
Interactive galleries on health, computation, energy, climate, engineering, and space occupy Richmond’s spectacular former Broad Street Station.
Artwork inspired by Theresa Pollak
Broad Street Station is both the museum’s setting and its first major exhibit. The monumental former rail terminal demonstrates how architecture once directed crowds, movement, light, and civic attention; today, its generous scale accommodates experiments and live demonstrations concerning health, computation, energy, climate, engineering, and space rather than rows of static cases.
A strong visit depends on sustained curiosity more than complete coverage. Choose a question, change one variable at a time, repeat promising experiments, and compare what the results suggest across several interactives. Pause to study the station’s circulation and sight lines, and treat outdoor displays as part of the museum; add a separately scheduled Dome program when it genuinely extends the chosen theme.
- Building
- 1919 Broad Street Station
- Format
- Hands-on experiments
- Allow
- 3–5 hours
Quick guide
- Start
- Station rotunda and building
- Choose
- One experiment to repeat
Make the visit count
- Change one variable
- Use interactives like experiments instead of pressing every button once.
- Look at the station
- Trace former passenger circulation, platforms, and monumental sight lines.
- Ask a scientist
- Live demonstrations often reveal more than unattended exhibit hardware.
- Time the Dome
- Arrive before the separately scheduled planetarium or giant-screen program.
Good to know
General admission and Dome programs use separate pricing. School groups can dominate popular interactives on weekday mornings, and some hands-on stations periodically close for maintenance.
Notice these
- Broad Street Station
- The Dome
- Speed and human-health galleries