Discovery Place Science in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, is the flagship campus of a regional nonprofit museum network and a leading science institution in the city. Its origins reach back to 1946, when schoolteacher Laura Owens began a small museum in Charlotte, followed by the Children’s Nature Center in 1951 and a planetarium in 1965. Charlotte’s support for science education and uptown development led to the opening of Discovery Place in 1981. Expanded over the years with new exhibit space, an IMAX Dome theatre, and major redevelopment, it has grown into a major center for public learning, family engagement, and STEM education.