Designed by Cincinnati's Jack Rouse Associates (previously known as Rouse Wyatt Associates), Water Works is a place where visitors can have fun exploring a sea of water-related topics ranging from maritime shipping and underwater exploration to rainstorms and erosion. At Water Works, visitors can peer through a forty-foot periscope looking over the Maumee River and downtown Toledo; deliver a weather forecast from a broadcast booth; investigate environmental issues like erosion by manipulating the river of a miniature community; or play in a Water Arcade that features high-powered water cannons.

The Water Works exhibition draws connections to many diverse subjects, underscoring the important role water plays in all aspects of daily life. Most importantly, Water Works entertains while it teaches. Visitors can navigate the Maumee River while checking a radar screen for hazards. Tinkerers old and young can build networks of pipes filled with flowing water. A Science Pool deceptively invites guests to "play," all the while providing valuable lessons in water physics. And, in a lesson in design efficiency, children and adults become yachtsmen for a day, building and racing toy sailboats.

"Learning Worlds (like Water Works) allow visitors to immerse themselves in hands-on science activities -- not just to learn about science, but to do science,"remarks Laila Waggoner, Marketing Director of COSI Toledo. Waggoner, overwhelmed that so many residents and area businesses have supported COSI Toledo since its conception, applauds area corporate sponsors for recognizing the importance of science literacy and "actively supporting a powerful center for science learning in Toledo." Since its March 1, 1997 opening, COSI Toledo has already become a significant resource to residents, visitors and schools in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.

COSI is one of many venues bringing new life to downtown Toledo. Owens Corning recently opened their world headquarters downtown. A former Macy's store has been renovated into a beautiful new apartment building. Still, COSI is undoubtedly one of the highlights of Toledo's revitalization. It occupies the former Portside Festival Market Place building, bringing renewed vibrance to what has been for seven years a beautiful but empty facility. Laila Waggoner believes that COSI' s presence has increased business for neighboring restaurants and hotels. With a projected attendance of 250,000 people for 1997, COSI's neighbors will assuredly continue to prosper.

Despite the fun environment, some of the designs proved problematic. "The most unusual problem was providing the proper exhibit area for the one-million volt Lightning Strike exhibit," explains Smith. "We had to create an exhibit where guests could stand in a room and have the lightning strike right over their heads! At the same time, the room had to be grounded and isolated from the building and all other exhibits." In addition to Water Works and its lightning bolts, COSI Toledo houses six other enticing Learning Worlds: Mind Zone teases the senses and features a Distorted Gravity Room where visitors walk on walls; Sports allows guests to discover the science behind things like the perfect baseball pitch; Life Force invites inquisitive minds to explore the human body's secrets; KIDSPACE offers younger children a place for creative play (there is even a BABYSPACE reserved for children 18 months and younger); Whiz Bang Engineering summons visitors to design, manufacture and package anything imaginable; and Science Park, attracts children with its large-scale outdoor playground.

Although modeled after the successful COSI in Columbus, COSI Toledo's unique design additions-- an Atomic Cafe eatery, Science2Go, a retail store, a High Wire Cycle stretching sixty feet across the central atrium, and Kaleidoscope Gallery, a special exhibitions hall-- set this facility apart from its predecessor. Bound to remain a sure crowd-pleaser, this educational waterplay area provides visitors with the opportunity to explore the fascinating and entertaining world of water, while at the same time bringing a renewed vibrance to the city's downtown. LASN