OMSI Works to Make Visitors of All Ages Comfortable This Fall
Portland, OR. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) is open on a limited basis. To help keep our community healthy, OMSI has limited capacity, introduced staggered ticketing times, and is continuing to require face coverings.
OMSI remains committed to the health and safety of everyone at the museum—including visitors, students, staff, and volunteers. The organization wants visitors to feel comfortable and safe while discovering at OMSI. Administrators explain, “While our region is moving closer to community immunity, we are continuing to require visitors to wear masks. This policy allows us to offer a safe space to the hundreds of children attending OMSI Camps & Classes at the museum, as the majority of these students are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.”
Founded in 1944, OMSI is one of the nation’s leading science museums with an international reputation in science education. Our mission is to inspire curiosity by creating engaging science learning experiences for students of all ages and backgrounds. We foster experimentation and the exchange of ideas, and we help our community make smart, informed choices.
To help limit the spread of COVID-19, OMSI has taken the below steps:
– Staff and guests will be wearing face coverings to protect those too young for vaccination
– Capacity for open areas across the museum has been reduced
– Providing online ticketing (we’ll scan your ticket for contactless entry)
– Signs are posted throughout the museum to encourage guests to maintain physical distancing
– Enhanced cleaning protocols are in place and additional hand sanitizing stations have been installed throughout the museum
Daily Hours and What’s Open
– OMSI’s hours are Monday through Sunday from 10am to 7pm.
– Visitors may experience Dinosaurs Revealed, the Natural Science Hall, Empirical Theater and Kendall Planetarium shows, and tour the USS Blueback Submarine. The Empirical Cafe is also open for refreshments and snacks.
– To learn more about hours and pricing, check out the Visitor Info page.
Travel Back in Time with Dinosaurs
Journey back 250 million years to prehistoric North America! Get up close and personal with life-sized dinosaurs, two detailed dinosaur cast fossils, and more.
The last day of this exhibit is Monday, September 6th.
See a Film on the Giant Screen
Venture through jungles and oceans, and learn about animals like dinosaurs, sharks, dogs, crocodiles, and more on the largest screen in Portland.
Explore Space and the Night Sky
Find constellations in the night sky, travel to the moon with Big Bird, experience the creation of the Milky Way Galaxy, and more in the Kendall Planetarium.
Tour the USS Blueback Submarine
Get a glimpse of how a crew of 85 lived on the Blueback for months, walk through the torpedo room, learn about the submarine’s famous history, and more.
Admissions and capacity are reduced throughout the museum. Capacity will be controlled through the use of timed ticketing for museum attractions and monitored by staff.
 To help keep them safe, OMSI staff and museum guests age 5 or older are required to wear either a cloth, paper, or disposable face covering (that covers the nose and the mouth). Any guest or staff member without a face covering will be provided a disposable face covering.
Signage will be posted throughout OMSI requiring guests or staff with known symptoms of COVID-19 to stay home and contact a medical professional. All OMSI staff are required to complete daily health assessments including temperature checks. Any staff with a temperature in excess of 100.4 degrees or feeling ill for any reason must not report to the museum.
Additional hand sanitizer dispensers have been installed in key guest contact areas. All hands-on exhibition components have either been removed from the museum floor or turned off. OMSI will follow enhanced cleaning protocols and use an EPA-registered disinfectant that is active against coronaviruses. Frequently touched surfaces will be cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected multiple times daily.
From OMSI:
Our Mission
OMSI’s mission is to inspire curiosity through engaging science learning experiences, foster experimentation, and the exchange of ideas, and stimulate informed action.
Our Equity Statement
OMSI respects, values and celebrates the unique attributes, characteristics and perspectives that make each person who they are. We believe that we will be successful in accomplishing our mission and vision when we seek out and respond to diversity of participation, thought and action. We will work to dismantle barriers to equity and access to the experiences OMSI provides and to create welcoming environments and conditions where all people can reach their full potential.
