FLORIDA PLACE TO EXPLORE
Pensacola MESS Hall
Escambia County · Panhandle & Emerald Coast
A hands-on science center on Wright Street where the visitors run the experiments themselves.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
MESS stands for Math, Engineering, Science and Stuff, and the Pensacola MESS Hall at 418 East Wright Street is built on the idea that people learn this material by doing it rather than reading labels. The place puts out ten to twelve rotating activity kits alongside its regular exhibits, and as the staff put it, at the MESS Hall you are the scientists. The visit is deliberately self-guided; staff are there to answer questions rather than to lead a tour. It suits anyone with the fine motor control to handle the equipment, which in practice means school-age children and the adults with them, and children under three come in free because the activities were not designed with them in mind. Hours change with the school calendar. Through the summer it opens Monday to Saturday from 10 to 5 and Sunday from 1 to 5. From the middle of August it runs Tuesday to Friday from noon to 5 and Saturday from 10 to 5, closed Sunday and Monday, with longer hours over the holidays. Annual family memberships and six-month flex passes are sold, and the membership also opens more than 350 other museums
Keep comparing