Powerhouse Science Center in Durango, Colorado, is an interactive science museum in the former Durango Light and Power Company building beside the Animas River. Opened in 2011 as the Durango Discovery Museum in a converted 1892 power plant, it emphasizes energy and draws identity from the site’s role as an early alternating current station, when Durango had AC street lights before many large eastern cities. The renovated Mission-style powerhouse is recognized as a state and national historic place, with its original boiler room preserved as a theater. After closing in 2015 because of financial trouble, it was reorganized and reopened with expanded community science, robotics, and maker activities, including medical equipment production during the COVID-19 pandemic.