Attendance numbers from 2012 show more than 1.2 million people visited the science museum in Raleigh in 2012, compared to more than 1.1 million who went to Biltmore, the top attraction for the eight previous years. This is the ninth year that Carolina Publishing Associates, based in Matthews, has conducted the annual survey of attendance at North Carolina’s museums and historic attractions.
“Clearly, across North Carolina, there’s a widespread interest to understand what science can tell us about what’s changing in our society and in the environment around us,” Alvin Braswell, a deputy director of the museum, said at a news conference Monday.
The Museum of Natural Sciences expanded last year, opening its 80,000-square-foot Nature Research Center in April. The museum’s 24-hour opening attracted 70,000 people, spokesman Mark Johnson said.
The Nature Research Center and the increase in visitors go hand-in-hand, but not in the way that people may think, Braswell said. “Our visitation numbers did not grow purely because we’re building an exciting new buildinge_SLps,” he said. “In many ways, the reverse is true.
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