Harford County awards APG Discovery Center $40,000 from Tourism Fund

The APG Discovery Center received a $40,000 grant from Harford County Office of Community and Economic Development, which manages the Tourism Fund for Harford County government. The grant, which will be disbursed in Fiscal Year 2019, will go toward APG Discovery Center operations and the launch of the Preview Center at the Aberdeen MARC Train Station. Funding for the grants comes from the county’s 6 percent tax on hotel and motel room rentals implemented by Harford County Executive Barry Glassman in March 2015. A total of $1.5 million was awarded to multiple non-profits from the fund.

Harford County lost a major asset and its largest tourist attraction when the Army Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) was closed due to Base Realignment and Closure legislation and moved to Fort Lee in 2011. At its peak, the Ordnance Museum was drawing over 200,000 visitors per year and was an economic driver for the region.

The Board’s goal is to develop the APG Discovery Center into the most visited tourist attraction north of Baltimore. We want families, retirees, history buffs, and students from all around the Mid-Atlantic to travel to the APG Discovery Center to explore science and technology and be inspired to innovate. We want to tell the stories of the region’s rich technology heritage and contribution to society and create an interactive space where we can light a fire of discovery in students of all ages and from all backgrounds. For 100 years, Harford County has been home to some of the most brilliant minds in science and technology. Their inventions have changed how people live, work, and play around the globe. It is only fitting that Harford County is also home to a world-class Discovery Center.