Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A New "Eyeball" For the Science Museum

The Science Museum of Virginia is getting its eyeball back.

Eighteen days after thieves stole an eyeball cover that sheathed the museum’s Grand Kugel, a replacement eyeball is set to be unveiled Wednesday at noon.

“When our eyeball was stolen a few weeks ago, there was so much community support that we had to replace it,” Richard Conti, the museum’s director, said in a statement.

The eyeball’s vendor replaced the cover at a “considerably reduced price,” Conti said, because “of all the incredible news coverage around the world.” The original cover cost $4,000.

During the early morning hours of Oct. 2, thieves cut away the eyeball that tightly wrapped the 8½ foot diameter, 29-ton ball. The decoration had been installed just 12 hours earlier to promote a new exhibit — “Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear” — at the museum.

The thieves have yet to be caught and the eyeball remains missing. Virginia’s Capitol Police, who have jurisdiction over the Science Museum Property, continue to investigate.

To celebrate the replacement eye, the museum staff “is asking for eye-deas on how to keep an eye on our eye,” Conti said. Suggestions can be posted on the Science Museum of Virginia’s Facebook page.

All ideas will be entered into a random drawing for an “eye-pod” and a free family museum membership, Conti said. The winner will be announced at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

www.timesdispatch.com

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