Stamford Museum & Nature Center — Attraction in Stamford

Before you visit this place you should know about it's dark history. Back in 1975 Charles Scovil, the head of Stamford Observatory and so-called "astronomer" (without an astronomy degree), had an old, useless dome on the grounds of the observatory which is part of the Stamford Museum and Nature Center. The dome was defective and never worked properly but no one could get the money to remove it from the observatory property. So Mr. Scovil tricked a group of high school students from New York into removing the dome from the observatory property by offering to "donate" the defective dome to them for an observatory they were building. Of course, Mr. Scovil knew that the dome was defective and would never work but he lied to the students, telling them it was a perfectly good dome that it would work fine. The students put in a great deal of hours, work, money and effort to remove the dome from the observatory property but once they got the dome to Armonk they found (to no surprise) that it was completely useless. Mr. Scovil had successfully transferred the problem of how to get rid of a two-ton dome (for free) to the high school students and his observatory looked beautiful again.

This demonstrates that Mr. Scovil is a liar and is so devious and unethical that he would trick a group of high school kids into doing something that he knew would be disastrous to them. Scovil is immoral to the very core. There are few men on this earth who are as unethical, devious and loathsome as Charles Scovil. I notified Stamford Museum and Nature Center about this injustice but they just ignored me. They were fine leaving this injustice just as it is. Therefore they are just as loathsome as their so-called "astronomer",...

We were very disappointed and found it to be alot of hype and false advertising. Although kids enjoy running through the farm and playing in the natures playground (lots of tripping hazards and spiders btw), the rest is disappointing. The admission is too expensive for what you actually get to see, unless you are paying for only one adult and only taking kids under 3. You cannot walk through the house/museum to enjoy its architecture or learn about its history either. It's just one small hallway with 15 tiny miniature paintings and stuffed birds. The entire second floor is "offices." I dont know what vital business goes on to require that much space, which could be therwise be used as promoted on the website, touring the mansion and seeing the designer clothing perhaps. It was a very stuffy and unwelcoming atmosphere. The planetarium is only opened for groups, so that was another dead end bummer. All in all, we paid $50 to let the kids run through a small farm (no petting, feeding or interactive horse&buggy rides...just walking and looking) and play in a fascinating but precarious wooden playground on a steep hill. Will not return or recommend until they fulfill what they enticingly claim on the website and even add more programs for children...

Due to COVID, I had to have 2 small birthday parties for my daughter's 4th birthday this past weekend. John (Visitor Services Assistant Manager & Birthday Party Coordinator) was so lovely and understanding and helped me plan these separate events. We chose the "meet the animals" presentation for each of these events, and the kids LOVED it! Each presentation was different but equally fun. Everyone was spaced out and were wearing masks. The center is very much adherent to COVID guidelines and expect, and kindly remind their guests to do so as well. They also provided a separate, spaced out celebration space for my daughter's classmates and parents to place their items and for us to sing Happy Birthday before guests left with their pre-packed cupcakes. If you are wondering if you should book a party here, do! It is a safe and wonderful experience. Thank you so much John and staff for making my daughter's 4th birthday COVID safe...