Sci-Quest's ASTC Passport Program Residency Policy

For a number of years now, Sci-Quest, the North Alabama Science Center, Inc., has participated in the Association of Science-Technology Centers Passport Program. This program was designed to allow families who are members of their local science centers or museums to receive free general admission to all the other participating ASTC Passport Program science centers or museums around the world. This program is a valuable benefit local science centers can offer to their members. It can also be a money saving benefit, allowing members to sample some of the world’s most exciting science centers and museums while they’re on vacation or visiting family and friends.

One caveat to the ASTC Passport Program is that reciprocal membership benefits do not apply to centers within a 90-mile radius of home. It is important to note that the 90-mile radius is defined by drawing a radius on a map and not by calculating the driving distance between two museums. This rule was instituted to protect museums within a close proximity of one another from competing for the same potential members based solely on price. What this means locally is that Sci-Quest members cannot obtain free admission to other participating centers within a 90-mile radius of Huntsville nor can members of those science centers obtain free admission to Sci-Quest. This rule, though valuable in its initial intent, has created a situation that makes it tempting for local families to purchase a membership elsewhere in order to visit Sci-Quest and other institutions for free.

Sci-Quest, as well as the other non-profit science centers, must depend upon revenue earned to pay for operating expenses through such sources as admissions, program offerings, and memberships. The actual cost of an individual visit to Sci-Quest is more than double what is charged in admission. If the resident families around Sci-Quest all joined museums outside a 90-mile radius, Sci-Quest could not pay for its operating expenses, and would have to close down, thereby denying a valuable and enjoyable educational experience for the children and families of our area.

An increasingly large number of families residing within Sci-Quest’s Service Area are purchasing memberships from museums outside the 90-mile radius in order to obtain free admission at Sci-Quest. This is a substantial problem, not only because it is goes against the intent of the ASTC Passport Program, but also because it takes much-needed money from the science center in your local community. Sci-Quest management, after reviewing data collected over the past few years, has determined this is a problem that can no longer be ignored. Effective January 1, 2005, visitors to our center presenting membership cards from ASTC Passport Program participants outside a 90-mile radius of Huntsville will be asked for photo identification listing the visitor’s current home address. If that visitor’s home address is within Sci-Quest’s Service Area (a 45-mile radius of Huntsville), free general admission will be denied.

At Sci-Quest we strongly believe in the merit of the ASTC Passport Program. We are pleased that our Sci-Quest members have the opportunity to obtain free admission to science centers and museums across the country, and we also welcome visitors from science and technology centers in other parts of the country to obtain free admission to Sci-Quest when they visit Huntsville. This is the spirit and intent of the ASTC Passport Program, and Sci-Quest will continue to extend benefits to those individuals and families who support their local science centers.

Policy adopted November 18, 2004