Arts & Culture
A federally affiliated memorial museum built after 1995, and a AAM-accredited science museum whose own building has hosted a national sport's hall of fame since long before either was a household name.
Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum
The Oklahoma City National Memorial, dedicated April 19, 2000 on the fifth anniversary of the 1995 bombing, and its Museum, which opened in 2001, together became an affiliated area of the National Park System in 2004. The outdoor Symbolic Memorial — the Gates of Time, the Field of 168 Empty Chairs, the Survivor Tree, and the Survivors' Wall built from the original Murrah Building's south and east walls — was designed by husband-and-wife architects Hans and Torrey Butzer, selected from 624 submitted designs.
Science Museum Oklahoma
Science Museum Oklahoma, tracing back to the 1958 Kirkpatrick Planetarium, is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and spans more than 390,000 square feet — among the largest science museums in the country — drawing over 600,000 visitors in 2023. It also houses the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, whose inductees include Nadia Comăneci and Mary Lou Retton, and its OmniDome Theatre was Oklahoma's first large-format, dome-screen theater when it opened in 2000; a new Love's Planetarium opened on the site in September 2024.