Inside the new Cape Fear Museum: What visitors can expect
Photo Credit: Cece Nunn
Editor’s note: This story was originally published by WilmingtonBiz and has been reformatted for visibility and readability.
Cape Fear Museum of History & Science welcomed visitors into a much larger home in downtown Wilmington this summer.
The new three-story facility at 230 Grace St. officially opened to the public Aug. 18, with nearly double the exhibit space and triple the education space of the museum's previous location. Visitors can now explore expanded history and science exhibits, a planetarium, children's play areas, an outdoor learning gallery and more.
Here's a closer look at what visitors can expect inside the new Cape Fear Museum.
Key takeaways
- The bigger picture: Cape Fear Museum of History & Science moved into a new three-story facility at 230 Grace St. in downtown Wilmington.
- The details: The museum nearly doubled its exhibit space and tripled its education space, with areas dedicated to history, science, children and nature.
- Why it matters: The larger facility gives the museum more room to incorporate science alongside the Lower Cape Fear history that played a major role at its previous location.
- The more you know: The new Cape Fear Museum officially opened to the public Aug. 18.
A much larger home for Cape Fear Museum
Visitors will notice a major difference at the museum's new facility.
“We’re basically doubling our exhibit space ... and we are tripling our education space," museum director Kate Baillon said during a media tour of the new location.
The additional room also allowed the museum to rethink what it offers.
"This is so much bigger, so much more than our previous space, and we did a lot with our previous space. But everything has been reconceived," Baillon said.
What's inside the new Cape Fear Museum?
The three-story museum brings history, science, play and nature together through a variety of exhibits and spaces.
Visitors will find:
- Cape Fear Stories: An interactive exhibit spanning two floors that describes the history of the people of the Lower Cape Fear
- Planetarium and immersive theater: A 60-seat space that will project shows on history and science in addition to celestial objects
- Port City Play: An area for children featuring the two-story, lighted Live Oak Climber, a theater designed to be reminiscent of Thalian Hall where children can put on their own productions and a wall where they can create their own exhibits
- Science Matters: Hands-on exhibits and a gallery that aim to emphasize the importance of science in understanding and changing the world
- Michael Jordan artifacts: Artifacts from the basketball legend, who graduated from Laney High School
- Curious Nature: An outdoor learning gallery highlighting nature and environmental stewardship through a water-play exhibit and more
- Traveling exhibition gallery: A 5,000-square-foot space for traveling exhibitions
“We’ve really worked hard to bring history and science together," Baillon said.
More room for science
Science has a larger presence at the new facility than it did at Cape Fear Museum's previous home.
Officials designed the third-floor Science Matters exhibit with help from local experts, including those at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, GE, Corning and the Brunswick Nuclear Plant.
“At our last facility, we focused mainly on the history. We didn’t have very much room for the science exhibits," Baillon said. "Here, we have added in a lot more science.”
Amazing Pollinators is the first traveling exhibit
The museum's new 5,000-square-foot traveling exhibition gallery opened with Amazing Pollinators.
The game-based survival adventure mixes stories with messages about pollinators, the critical work they do and their importance to people and the planet.
Amazing Pollinators will be on view through January 2027.
The new museum is part of Project Grace
The museum is part of Project Grace, a partnership between Wilmington-based Cape Fear Development and New Hanover County to redevelop a county-owned block.
The project includes:
- A new Cape Fear Museum
- A new main branch of the New Hanover County Public Library
- Potential private residential and commercial space
The 95,000-square-foot public portion of Project Grace cost $77 million. The finishing touches for the Grace Street museum alone cost $21.5 million of that total.
The museum was designed by architecture firm LS3P and built by Monteith Construction.
What happened to the former Cape Fear Museum?
The existing Cape Fear Museum at 814 Market St. closed at the end of 2025, but the facility has remained in use.
County officials have said the former museum serves as a:
- Research facility
- Exhibition design and fabrication workshop
- Collections management complex
What's next for Project Grace?
The new main library branch portion of Project Grace opened in October 2025.
Cape Fear Development will also build the project's private portions, which may include a mix of residential and commercial space.
That development will take place on the site of the old main library on Princess Street, which sits on the other side of the Project Grace block from the new museum and new library.
FAQs
When did the new Cape Fear Museum open?
The new Cape Fear Museum of History & Science officially opened to the public Aug. 18, 2026.
Where is the new Cape Fear Museum?
The new museum is located at 230 Grace St. in downtown Wilmington.
How much larger is the new Cape Fear Museum?
The new Cape Fear Museum nearly doubles the museum's exhibit space and triples its education space compared with its previous location.
What happened to the old Cape Fear Museum building?
The former Cape Fear Museum at 814 Market St. closed at the end of 2025 but has remained in use as a research facility, exhibition design and fabrication workshop and collections management complex.
