What exactly is COSI? It’s the Center of Science and Industry, but it’s also a great place to spend a cold day for both kids and adults. Now known as one of the best museums in Ohio, and even the country, COSI was not always as successful. Coming from humble beginnings and originally run by unpaid volunteers, COSI has grown a lot since its first opening. How did a small, family-owned science museum become a huge success that brings in 20 million in revenue each year?
COSI opened its doors for the first time on March 29, 1964. It was founded by Sanford (Sandy) Hallock and required financial support from Preston Wolfe, the publisher of the Dispatch, and the Franklin County Historical Society. While COSI is now known as a science center, it was originally a combined science and history museum up until the 1970’s, when the science portion of COSI began to overshadow the history portion. The uniqueness of COSI worked to its advantage, seeing as COSI was one of the first hands-on science centers in the United States. This led to immediate success upon opening.
However, with the low budget and volunteer workers, COSI had very few exhibits. Seeing that COSI was a blossoming museum that needed a little bit of help, astronaut John Glenn helped to promote it and stayed involved for the rest of his life. Why did the famous astronaut John Glenn want to support a small museum? David Chesebrough, a previous president of COSI, says, “After Sputnik, John Glenn was engaged and excited to support a new science center.” His support was also incredibly helpful to COSI, with Chesebrough saying, “John Glenn’s support was instrumental in raising the profile [of COSI]”. Yet, COSI really began to boom due to the idea of a former Worthington teacher, Bill Schmitt. What was that idea? Sleepovers at the museum.
COSI was the very first museum in the United States to host sleepovers, opening the Camp-In program for Girl and Boy Scouts in 1972. Seeing the success in boosting popularity and revenue, other museums also adopted this program, which spread nationwide and then internationally. The Camp-In still continues in some places today. As of now, COSI has hosted more than 1 million overnight campers.
After Hallock died in 1983, Worthington grad and former COSI volunteer Roy Shafer became the president of COSI. Under him, the sleepover program continued to spread the word about COSI, and the fame grew and grew. More exhibits, more visitors, and more profits continued to roll in, firmly establishing COSI as a leading science center. After Roy, former NASA astronaut Dr. Kathy Sullivan took over as the president, and made some changes. As the museum continued to grow, a larger building was needed to house more exhibits.
In 1999, Sullivan led the move from the old Memorial Hall building to a newly constructed location in downtown Columbus, where it still is today. The new building, 320,000 square feet, cost $210 million in construction costs. Because of this relocation, Sullivan found that the high maintenance costs of the new facility, six-figure utility bills, and disappointing ticket sales led to financial problems and issues with upgrading and funding new exhibits. Many of the existing exhibits were closed, including the visitor-favorite planetarium.
COSI continued to struggle as a new president, Dr. David Chesebrough, took control. At the start of his presidency, Chesebrough had “half a payroll of cash and no financial reserves”. To bring COSI out of debt, Chesebrough “sought and leveraged powerful partnerships to improve the financial strength”. Some of these partnerships included WOSU, OSU, and the Columbus City Schools. These partnerships “enhanced the visitor experience so… attendance and revenue grew”. In 2008, COSI won the award of #1 science center in the country by Parents Magazine, and began to slowly bring back the previously closed exhibits as the museum gained more attendance and revenue. The final piece of the museum, the planetarium, reopened new and improved in 2014. After bettering the financial picture, Chesebrough retired in 2016 after being president for 10 years.
Dr. Frederic Bertley became the next president of COSI, from the beginning of 2017 until present day. While the COVID-19 pandemic complicated things, Dr. Bertley says, “We had to be creative and strategic around how to generate income to keep COSI alive,” and some of his ideas included a TV show, educational kits, and digital resources. These strategies kept COSI going throughout the pandemic, and the revenue stream increased again as the pandemic ended.
COSI continues to prosper, bringing in many new exhibits and welcoming thousands of visitors. COSI has been named Best Science Museum in USA Today’s Best Readers’ Choice Awards 4 times since Bertley has become president, and welcomes many new exhibits, the newest being Paw Patrol and a T. Rex: The Ultimate Predator.
COSI is an amazing museum to visit, especially since it’s more hands-on and has more activities available. Tickets are able to be purchased online or at the gate, and students get a discount by showing student IDs! Whether you want to learn about STEM, oceans, history, or even just spend a fun, cozy day hanging out with friends or family, COSI is the place to go.
