Asheville Museum of Science plans expansion as family attractions collaborate

Asheville’s family attractions are working more closely together as demand grows, and the Asheville Museum of Science is positioning itself to capture more of that traffic with a major downtown expansion. For Buncombe County parents and grandparents looking for an affordable, weather-proof place to take children outside peak tourist season, the plan would add more room for exhibits, classes and school visits in the heart of Asheville.

The museum now serves about 50,000 people a year from a 6,000-square-foot space downtown. AMOS says it is expanding into the former bank space next door and expects to double its footprint, a move that would give the museum more room to serve both local families and school groups that have outgrown the current galleries.

Explore Asheville says the project will take over the long-vacant space at 1 Haywood St. and create a 4,000-square-foot open exhibit area plus a 2,000-square-foot classroom and program space. WLOS reported that the 10,000-square-foot Wells Fargo space closed in 2024, giving AMOS the first right of refusal to expand there. That location matters: it would keep one of downtown Asheville’s few hands-on science attractions in place while adding capacity in a block that already draws residents, tourists and students.

AMOS has broken the work into two phases. The first, covering 2025 to 2026, focuses on accessibility and safety upgrades, including new doors and accessibility pathways, a fire sprinkler system, ADA restrooms, electrical and mechanical upgrades, improved flooring and a better entryway. The second phase, set for 2026 to 2027, shifts to the build-out itself, with new hands-on exhibit galleries, a Maker Lab, an engineering studio, STEAM immersion spaces for field trips, camps and afterschool programs, and expanded climate, planetary science and engineering exhibits. Mountain Xpress also reported that the expansion would add classrooms, larger exhibit areas and programming aimed at health sciences and older students.

The museum’s timing reflects a wider push among Asheville institutions to broaden programming and build stronger partnerships as they try to bring more children, teachers and families downtown. Buncombe County’s tourism authority approved $189,500 for AMOS’s downtown expansion in 2025, signaling that local tourism leaders view the project as part of the county’s visitor economy and post-Helene recovery. AMOS opened on November 11, 2016, and the next chapter would make the museum a larger civic asset for Western North Carolina families who want science learning within reach year-round.