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By Jennifer Parks

This is the third installment in a series featuring attractions in the Albany area.

ALBANY — On West Roosevelt Avenue, on the last section of brick road left in the city of Albany, is a complex from which families can discover tidbits of history, science, and the process of surveying and mapping.

The complex is known as Thronateeska Heritage Center, which “inspires wonder and stimulates exploration of science and South Georgia’s history by providing a dynamic learning experience through an interactive science center and museum,” its mission statement reads.

Established in 1974, the heritage center has a science museum that includes the domed 40-foot, high-definition Wetherbee Planetarium, a history museum, a train exhibit, the Georgia Museum of Surveying and Mapping, and the South Georgia Archives.

The archives hold much of the valuable documentation relating to Albany’s history, including maps, birth records, death records, copies of The Albany Herald and minutes from old city meetings.

The history museum, located adjacent to the mapping and surveying museum, alternates exhibits regularly — keeping no exhibit longer than six months. Most recently, it featured its annual Santa on Main exhibit, and is currently sitting empty waiting for the next exhibit.

“All the exhibits relate to Southwest Georgia history, especially Albany history,” Hannah Hembree, programs manager at Thronateeska, said..

The science museum, which Hembree said is the biggest public draw for the complex, is modeled on the outside after the former train depot that was once on the site. It breaks down its exhibits into categories, including meteorology, natural science, archaeology, hydrology, paleontology and astronomy. This museum includes the planetarium, which rotates its movies — “Earth, Moon & Sun,” “Astronomyths,” “Larry Cat in Space,” “Oasis in Space” and “Black Holes” — on a set schedule.

The science museum is also the site of much of Thronateeska’s programming, such as Toddersaurus Time and Science Saturday, and it attracts school groups for lab classes and planetarium shows.

Hembree said the survey and mapping museum was relocated from Warrenton and brought under the Thronateeska umbrella a few years ago. It gives an overview of the history of exploration and expansion in Georgia using more than 100 maps and artifacts.

The complex also has a train exhibit, which re-opened late last year and remains in a state of restoration to offer a more interactive look. The exhibit is meant give a peak into Albany’s historic 1913 Union Depot. Along with a steam locomotive — and a railroad baggage car and mail car that made trips to New Orleans and Jacksonville — it also has a selection of other rail cars. Thronateeska also has a model railway exhibit inside one of the train cars.

“In the next two years, I hope to have it all the way open,” Hembree said. “I am hoping we can put a permanent railroad out there. It is a constant battle, restoring trains.”

Thronateeska is a Greek word meaning “flint picking-up place,” so it can describe any part of Southwest Georgia along the Flint River. Hembree said the Junior League of Albany joined its museum with another and adopted the Thronateeska name.

The complex — specifically the science museum — sees a number of schoolchildren each year, underscoring the importance its employees place on education. Meteorology and archaeology account for the largest amount of attention from its younger audiences, Hembree said.

“Education outside of the classroom is important; you get a real-world feel for it,” she said. “(Many of the children) have never been to a planetarium before. They take more out of it than they would just from a schoolbook.

“It gives them a different view of everything around them.”

Hembree said that updates are coming to the science museum, including new exhibits and an update to the planetarium — which will be getting a new system, while remaining HD, and offering more activities.

“We are working on more programming at the science museum,” Hembree said. “With Science Saturday, I am trying to make it a monthly thing.”

Thronateeska is also updating its Chautauqua Room rental space, which is expected to look new in the next two months.

Thronateeska has been able to establish partnerships with other attractions, including the Flint RiverQuarium, Chehaw, Albany Museum of Art, and Albany Recreation and Parks. Hembree said the RiverQuarium is a sister organization, joining with the complex for much of its programming and field trip activities.

Hembree said she makes a point of allowing programs to be inexpensive, partly as a means to make the complex more accessible to the public. It can pay off on events such as the solar eclipse in August, which brought 500 people to Thronateeska to witness the spectacle.

“We want everyone to have the opportunity to come here,” she said.

Hembree said people interested in science do not have to travel to Atlanta to have a good time. Age also is not a factor.

“We do a lot of programming for kids, but we are trying to do more programs for adults and young adults,” she said.

The program director said she would like to expand on the badge-earning opportunities they offer to both the Girl Scouts and the Boys Scouts, and offer more programming centered on the history museum.

“Hopefully in the next year we will see more history programming,” Hembree said.

New fossils were recently added to the science museum, which are typically popular with the younger audiences. Hembree said she is hopeful, that in the next five years, there will be some type of programming offered every Saturday.

The hours of operation at Thronateeska are:

— Wetherbee Planetarium, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday-Saturday

— Science Museum, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday-Saturday

— History Museum, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday-Saturday

— Georgia Museum of Surveying and Mapping, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Thursday-Saturday

— South Georgia Archives Research Center, 1-5 p.m., Thursday-Friday by appointment

Hembree said the public is welcome to suggest programming ideas, and feedback on what days and times work best for programs. She said the complex is constantly looking for volunteers to help set up programs and activities.

Thronateeska has memberships ranging from $25 for a senior or student, to the $1,000 benefactor level. Benefits include exclusive communication, advance notice of exhibitions, bonus offers, discount pricing for special programming and the gift shop, and exclusive event invitations.

Thronateeska is located at 100 W. Roosevelt Ave. and can be reached by phone at (229) 432-6955.

Jennifer ParksJennifer Parks