Vermont’s Fairbanks Museum moving forward on $2.5M expansion

ST. JOHNBURY, Vt. – Vermont’s Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium is another step closer to the first major expansion on the historic St. Johnsbury building dedicated to natural sciences.

The Museum Trustees voted earlier this month to move forward with the nearly $2.5 million addition that will create a 6,000-square-foot, 3-story science annex.

The new space will house hands-on exhibits for astronomy and meteorology. The new space would also provide a future home for Community College of Vermont operations in St. Johnsbury.

The Caledonian Record reports the museum has raised about $2.1 million of the anticipated $2.5 million to construct the addition with a number of grants, donations and pledges.

“We feel good about it,” said Museum Executive Director Adam Kane. “We aren’t 100 per cent there, but this is the way these campaigns go and we will continue to push and fundraise the final amount.”

If all goes according to plan it will be open to the public within a year.