Washington Pavilion museums set new attendance record

The Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science in Sioux Falls has seen a record number of visitors to its museums this year.

The Kirby Science Discovery Center and Visual Arts Museum set a milestone Monday with the 100,000th visitor of the year. Pavilion officials say this breaks the previous record of 96,349 museum visits set in 2000.

Washington Pavilion staff members credit ongoing capital investments in the facility, improvements in programming, a focus on the customer experience and enhanced marketing efforts as reasons for the increase in attendance.

Extensive renovations at the Kirby Science Discovery Center will be complete next year when the agricultural-themed new area on the third floor opens.

The Visual Arts Center includes eight different galleries that host 25 to 30 individual art shows each year.