The Da Vinci Center: My Readers Write Too

Jan. 13, 2026

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

I don’t rely much on anonymous items. I usually work from the public record, but I’ll make an exception today.

As noted before, the Da Vinci Science Center claims it spent $75 million to build a new facility in Allentown. For all that, in its first full year at 815 W. Hamilton St., it served about as many people as it did at the old Cedar Crest College location: 160,000 or so, and that is not necessarily an attendance figure. It may include “outreach.”

Da Vinci took in millions of public dollars, and paid its top people good salaries for meager results. Some of those same people went public years ago with ridiculous attendance projections when it was time to ask for money. I have that on the record and will post it later.

The estimate was for 400,000 people in Year One in Allentown. They missed by 60%. That’s not a little miss. It’s a disaster.

So below, I’m going to run a letter from an anonmous reader. The letter backs up things I’ve heard. So take a look at what is a reasoned look from somebody who says they were an insider, and knows the place well. It’s also available as a comment on an earlier blog post.

If Da Vinci wishes to contest any of it, they know where to reach me. I’m available and ready to listen. Eager to, even, and I thank them so far for answering some questions.

The facts are pretty plain: big promises were made and not kept, and the public is out millions of dollars.

The letter:

As a former member of the science center team who worked my way up through the ranks over the years, I’m glad someone is finally noticing what’s going on and writing about it. I chose to leave of my own accord after years of hard work and dedication, blindly “drinking the kool-aid” and trusting what the executive team said. Once I finally saw the finances at a more detailed, but still heavily disguised level, I was quickly able to discern that every promise and claim – made to the staff, made to the public, and made to the board – was misleading, if not an outright lie. Leaders broke policy, hid information, and did/do everything they can to make a name for themselves, losing focus on doing what was best for the community. On top of all that, the leaders’ salaries are the only ones that have gone up over the years, meanwhile many long term, full-time staff are being let go (a regular occurrence in October of each year since opening the new facility as this is when they finalize their Q1 numbers and have to show the board what they’re doing to attempt to right the ship) and the staff that remain are told there’s no money for them to give out any sort of raises, no matter what prior promises were made. It really has been heartbreaking because as you noted, the operations and education staff do put on some phenomenal programming.

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I can only address the promises the writer notes that were made to the public. They were way off. Executive Director Lin Erickson was the point person, but others were involved.

It’s one thing to miss a projection. It’s another to miss it by 60%. For each 10 people projected, four showed up.

The Board of Trustees of the Da Vinci Science Center at PPL Pavilion owes the public an explanation of what happened, and how this boondoggle will be saved. If it is to be saved.

Hint: more public money is NOT the answer.

Here again is a list of trustees. If you know them, ask them for some transparency. I’ll be asking too. Their quarterly meetings aren’t open to the public, despite the millions of taxpayer dollars spent.

Chairman

Daniel C. Bosket, Director, Community Action Development Corporation of Allentown

Vice Chairman

Stephanie Sherry, Vice President, Corporate Communications, Olympus Corporation of the Americas

Secretary

Rex Schultz, President, Swagelok Allentown

Treasurer

Michael J. Stoudt Jr., CPA, Managing Partner, Allentown Office, RKI, LLC

Chief Executive Officer

Lin Erickson, Executive Director and CEO, Da Vinci Science Center

Trustees

• Judy Belaires, Community Leader
• Dr. Carol D. Birks, Superintendent, Allentown School District
• Eric Bus, Operations Manager, ATAS International, Inc.
• Douglas S. Downing, Vice President/Commercial Banking Team Leader, Fulton Bank
• W. Beall Fowler, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Physics, Lehigh University
• Jack Gross, Esq., Partner, Gross McGinley Attorneys at Law
• Ed Harakel, Vice President of Field Operations, PPL Coporation
• Debra H. Lamb, Vice President of Development, Lehigh Valley Children’s Centers, Retired
• Dr. Maureen P. Leeson, Assistant Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer, Bethlehem Area School District
• Lisa Liddington, Vice President, Lehigh Valley Hospital, 17th Street
• James E. McLean, WMS, Senior Vice President, Steel Valley Wealth Strategies,  Raymond James 
• Elizabeth M. Meade, Ph.D., President, Cedar Crest College
• Richard Milker, Senior Vice President of Product and Commercialization, Stuffed Puffs
• Amanda Morton, Director Channel Marketing, Lutron Electronics
• Bridget O’Connell, Ed.D., Superintendent, Palisades School District
• Donald A. Outing, Ph.D., Vice President for Equity and Community, University Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Lehigh University
• Terrence Sullivan, Head of Government Affairs, Shift4
• William K. Velekei, CPA, CFP®, Partner, Mariner Wealth Advisors
• Jill Walter, Director – Operations South Region, UGI Utilities, Inc.
• Stephen P. Zieniewicz, MPH, FACHE, Healthcare Executive, Community Member

Emeritus Trustees

• J. Robert Lovett, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Retired, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
• Frank K. Schweighardt, Ph.D., Global Manager of Process Analytical, Retired, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
• Vincent Sorgi, President & CEO, PPL Corp.

Honorary Trustees

• Pat Browne, Secretary of PA Dept. of Revenue
• Heather Browne, Community Leader