Non-Profit Watch: Allentown’s Da Vinci Center Did Not Respond to Question About Attendance; What’s Up on Hamilton Street?

— Non-Profit Watch is a recurring item. Earlier stories focused on PBS 39 (Lehigh Valley Public Media) which burned through millions of public dollars and the Bethlehem Co-Op Market which has been allotted at least $3 million in public dollars. The Co-Op is at least three years past its opening date and seeking money from members of a Co-Operative that does not Operate.

July 2, 2025

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

How is the Da Vinci Science Center doing?

That is the Allentown science institute that at one time was headed to Easton, until Mayor Sal Panto and others became worried about its changing vision.

Way back in 2021, I attended a meeting where the Da Vinci Center was making a pitch for funding. The center has received a lot of public support, so its fiscal well-being is a public concern.

Plus admission costs $22 online and $24 in-person. Whoa!

The people behind the center made a comparison to the Franklin Institute, while acknowledging that the Allentown facility would not be as large as the Philadelphia museum.

That night, the Da Vinci Center team projected attendance of more than 400,000 people annually.

The Franklin Institute is in Philadelphia, a city of about 1.6 million in a metropolitan area of about 6.2 million.

Compare that to about 125,000 people in Allentown, and about 700,000 in the Lehigh Valley.

The forecast Da Vinci attendance number 400,000 — more than 1,000 per day — seemed a little ambitious, so I checked on how many people go to the Franklin Institute annually: about 800,000, in a city 12 times larger than Allentown, in a metropolitan area about 9 times larger.

Based on the 400,000 projection, the center would draw half as many people as the Philadelphia museum.

I recently asked the Da Vinci Center how attendance was going and received no answer. Fair enough, I’m just a blogger.

I did find this, courtesy of a Morning Call story in January: “the center expects to host 250,000 to 300,000 visitors in its first fiscal year.”

The story described that number as “slightly below” the forecast of 400,000 … SLIGHTLY BELOW?

No, falling short of the goal by 150,000 (38%) or 100,000 (25%) is not slightly below. It is a potential disaster.

This organization has taken in public money and run up debt.

Perhaps all will turn out well, but ideally the Board of Trustees is taking a hard look at what’s going on 815 Hamilton St.

My only contact from the center was a mailed request for money, and I did not respond. I’m not going to throw money at this outfit, even a small amount.

I’ll be checking more on their financial reports and public information as time allows. Meanwhile, they can always respond to my message.