Hands-on Imagination Station looks to future, seeks to grow

STEM museum near downtown Lafayette takes a hands-on approach to its future. Plus, what you need to know about today’s Taste of Tippecanoe and Juneteenth celebration. And more

Jun 15, 2024

Today’s lead story comes from Based in Lafayette correspondent Liz Evans.

HANDS-ON IMAGINATION STATION LOOKS TO FIND ITS PLACE, SEEKS TO GROW

By Liz Evans / For Based in Lafayette

“If I had one dollar for every time someone told me they’ve driven by and seen us but never stepped inside, I’d be rich.” – Sujatha Ramani, Imagination Station acting executive director

Yes, Imagination Station still exists. Maybe you knew that. Perhaps you have driven by the building at 600 N. Fourth St. near downtown Lafayette ... but when was your last visit? After closing in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lafayette’s nonprofit science center has been expanding hours and programming right under your nose.

“I think we are only reaching about 30% (to) 40% of the community,” Sujatha Ramani, acting executive director, said.

The center reopened in August 2022 to just two days per week with limited hours. Now, Imagination Station is open five days a week, Wednesday through Sunday. When staff are available, Ramani said they will also open up outside of normal hours to accommodate school field trips and other groups.

“Imagination Station is a very vital part of our community. (It’s) a hidden gem in this town,” Ramani said.

Attica resident Lisa Wilson has been a member of Imagination Station for the past year. She brought her 6-year-old son, Thatcher, to the center’s Astronaut Camp this summer. She said he loves space. Thatcher even dressed the part, sporting a NASA-replica space suit when he arrived for day two.

“(The museum) is so hands on. Thatcher not only sees how things work but he can feel and touch them. He loves space so it was nice to have a camp available that can nurture his interests,” Wilson said.

Lisa Wilson and son, Thatcher. (Photo: Liz Evans)

The camp was led by retired NASA education specialist Julie Muffler. She had Thatcher and the other campers draw their own spacesuits and create mission patches as one of the art activities.

Although the target audience is geared toward children ages 12 and under, office manager Dee Bishop said the center is for everyone.

“Our biggest benefit to the community is educating families,” Bishop said. “Our target audience is everyone. Our kids have to have a strong community around them.”

Julie Muffler leads a section of Astronaut Camp at Imagination Station. (Photo: Liz Evans)

Imagination Station is a nonprofit science center developed by the Association of Science, Space, Engineering and Technology (ASSET). The center opened in 1999 at its current location, which was donated by Indiana Gas Company.

The facility offers more than 7,000 square feet of space on two levels. The entrance opens to a welcome desk, a gift shop counter, offices and exhibit space. The second floor holds an activity room and additional exhibit space. All corners of the building are utilized for programming and hands-on learning stations in several science disciplines. Just to name a few examples of what you would find inside: there is an irrigation model that simulates how plants absorb moisture, a wind energy step pump that allows two people to create electricity, a musical stairwell to the second floor and cushion building blocks that engineer a construction arch.

The center is hosting several camps this summer for kids, including the Astronaut Camp. In the past year, there have been theme days and nights for both kids and adults. The center hosts guest speakers regularly. The facility is also available to rent for birthday parties and graduation ceremonies. They have even hosted a small wedding. Ramani said there’s a lot of activity happening inside, but operating a nonprofit has its challenges. Staffing, for one.

“It takes a special kind of person to work in a nonprofit setting. It takes heart to do this,” Bishop said.

Imagination Station has nine paid staff members, but no one is full-time (30 hours is the maximum per week). The center relies heavily on its team of volunteers, currently five people. The center is looking for more help, both paid and unpaid, and that includes Ramani’s role. Ramani said she went from bringing her own children here, to being a volunteer, to being a board member and most recently to stepping into the role of acting executive director. She has been in this interim position for three years. Although she plans to remain part of the center in the future, she is hoping to turn the reins over to the next leader who can champion the center through another big challenge.

“We’ve simply outgrown our space,” Ramani said.

A recent space site analysis completed by Cordogan, Clark & Associates and Kettelhut Construction backs up Ramani on that notion. Citing reasons to create more space or relocate, the results of the analysis state that the center is a vital part of the Greater Lafayette community and holds the potential to serve more people. Ramani said she has had positive conversations on both sides of the river about the center’s future. What happens next, she explained, is putting ideas on paper and creating a funding plan.

“Now that we have the data from the space site analysis, we can move forward. I anticipate a capital campaign in the near future,” Ramani said.

The space site analysis, according to Ramani, looked at similar facilities in other Indiana cities and how their space was used. Taking those comparisons and looking at what the center already does and the amount of people who walk through its doors, Ramani believes Imagination Station is just scratching the surface of its reach and community impact. With more space and staff, she believes it could become a premier destination that adds to the quality of life in Greater Lafayette.

“We could increase the size to accommodate more exhibits, more places for demonstrations and programs, have more attractive elements, include a space for people to meet, have classes for kids of all ages, like teenagers in addition to younger kids and even seniors, increase our hours. It’s definitely doable, and I believe it will be supported,” Ramani said.

The space decision will be whether to renovate and expand in its current location (an aging 1930s building) or to relocate. The current location is close to a growing side of downtown, and in the area of a recently announced construction project that will make Third and Fourth streets two-way instead of one-way. Staying put has its advantages, Ramani said, but the board of directors and community leaders from the city and county will look at all options, including moving.

In the meantime, Ramani said the focus is on getting the word out that Imagination Station is open with more hours and to use the existing exhibits and programming to attract new visitors. She said “stay tuned” for a traveling exhibit that the center hopes to announce soon. The center is funded in three primary ways: through admission and membership revenue, corporate donations and sponsorships, and grants. No one on staff is full-time and volunteers are always needed.

Daily admission is $7, and a family membership starts at $150 per year, which includes admission to 350 other science centers and museums worldwide.

If you go: Imagination Station is at 600 N. Fourth St. in Lafayette. Hours: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission: $7 (children under 2 are free). For more information, including upcoming camps: www.imagination-station.org

WHAT’S UP SATURDAY: TASTE OF TIPPECANOE, JUNETEENTH

Here are two events Saturday that bear repeating. Here are the entries from Based in Lafayette’s Tim’s Picks from Thursday on two big community events today.

Taste of Tippecanoe, 6 p.m. Saturday, June 15, downtown Lafayette —Downtown Lafayette’s biggest and most delicious bash is back. The Taste of Tippecanoe will feature 32 food and drink purveyors lining the sides of Main, Second, Third and Fourth streets. For the eyes and ears, 15 performing artists will be on hand too. Tickets: $10 at the gate, $50 for VIP.

Entertainment: While the Taste has scaled down a bit since before the pandemic, the 2024 live entertainment schedule is an interesting one. An all-DJ stage will feature local veteran party starters in DJs Los, Freeze and Mixmaster J as well as the Groove Foundation, a Chicago house DJ collective. Young jazz phenoms Palace Kat finally get a chance on the big Depot Stage to close out the night. The Digby’s Stage looks most interesting with the Lauren Grace Band (8 p.m.) and the return of Taste-y heavy metal courtesy of Monticello thrashers Salivus (6 p.m.). Moving throughout the festival grounds once again will be the Greater Lafayette Dance Collective and Flourish’s Mobile Art Studio, which specializes in introducing the wonders of art to families.
Food: A mix of food trucks and traditional restaurants are sure to please even the pickiest of eaters. There’s the usual mix of sweet, spicy, sugary and savory with stalwarts like Arni’s, HotBox Pizza and Gibson’s Shaved Ice leading the way. There’s also a vegan option thanks to the one and only Vegan Cheese Lady, who recently opened her first brick and mortar location in downtown. Almost 40% of the food options are on four wheels because of the awesomeness of Greater Lafayette food trucks like L Kora Authentic Mexican Fast Food, Combat Cookies and Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee. Here’s a map for the Taste.

Click here for the interactive map of food vendors and entertainment

Juneteenth Celebration, noon-4 p.m. Saturday, June 15, Columbian Park — Lafayette will celebrate Juneteenth with an outdoor bash in beautiful Columbian Park. The event will honor the holiday – which commemorates when the last slaves in Texas were freed on June 19, 1865 – with a fashion show, resource fair, bingo and impressive displays of Double Dutch jump rope. Music will be heard from a drum circle, a community choir, and Lafayette’s man of music, energy and entrepreneurism DJ Friday Kofi Austin. Admission is free.

ANOTHER ‘JEOPARDY’ WIN FOR PURDUE ARCHIVIST … WITH A TWIST

In her 13-game run on “Jeopardy,” West Lafayette’s Adriana Harmeyer hasn’t gone into the Final Jeopardy round without the lead. That changed in Friday’s episode, when the Purdue archivist tailed after finishing the first two rounds with $12,400. The leader had $12,800; the third place contestant wasn’t far behind, with $10,200. Still Harmeyer pulled it out after being the only one to give the correct response in the Final Jeopardy category of 1960s America: “Helping draft an executive order in 1961, Hobart Taylor Jr. almost used the word ‘positive,’ but instead chose this alliterative phrase.” Correct response: “What is affirmative action?” Her $8,100 wager put her at $20,500 for the day and a second consecutive sweep of a full week. Add three wins the week before that and Harmeyer sits at 13, with a total of $299,000. Harmeyer will return Monday to play again. The quiz show airs locally at 7:30 p.m. on WLFI-TV18.

Based in Lafayette, Indiana

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