The Exploration Place science museum in Wichita has reached a new attendance record.

The museum announced Tuesday that it had 409,975 visitors in the 2023-24 fiscal year.  That’s a 13 percent increase from the previous record of 363,047 visitors that was set in the 2022-23 time period.

There has been a 17 percent increase in family memberships, now totaling 10,753 households.

Museum officials said the Digital Dome Theater has been a major contributor to the success.  It brought in over 100,000 visitors for the first time in its history.

Exploration Place president and CEO Adam Smith called attention to more growth and expansion for the museum that will help attract even more visitors.  The EP2 initiative includes the Wichita Foundation Amphitheater, which will open in September.  Construction has started on a 6.5-acre destination playscape that will have ten landscaped playgrounds crafted to theme park standards, and it will open next year.