Editors and a panel of experts from USA Today have nominated the Saint Louis Science Center once again for its annual 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
The Science Center is nominated in three categories: Best Free Museum, Best Planetarium and Best Science Museum.
The institution has placed among the top five in recent years, including in 2025, when it finished No. 1 for Best Planetarium, No. 2 for Best Free Museum and No. 5 for Best Science Museum. It was also named Best Free Museum by Newsweek last year.
According to USA Today, a panel of experts worked with 10Best editors to select nominees based on their range of activities for residents and visitors.
The Science Center traces its roots to the James S. McDonnell Planetarium, which opened in 1963 in Forest Park. The facility was named for James S. McDonnell, chairman of the McDonnell Aircraft Corp., who pledged $400,000 to help fund the project.
When announcing his donation, McDonnell said the long-term significance of the planetarium in St. Louis was that “space, science and exploration are here to stay.”
In describing the museum, 10Best editors wrote that visitors can “examine full-scale replicas of a Mars rover, observe sea creatures in the Pacific Coral Reef Aquarium, and watch live STEM demonstrations.”
After a 1985 merger between the planetarium and the Museum of Science and Natural History, the facility became known as the Saint Louis Science Center.
Other institutions nominated in the Best Science Museum category include the Michigan Science Center, Carnegie Science Center and The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, New York.
Final winners will be determined by public vote. Voting in the 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards is open through 11 a.m. Feb. 9.
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.