Cape Fear Museum to close at end of 2025 as it prepares move to Grace Street

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Cape Fear Museum of History and Science will close its current Market Street location at 5 p.m. on December 31 as preparations begin to relocate more than 400 artifacts into the museum’s new home at 230 Grace Street.

The move is part of the museum’s transition to a larger cultural campus in downtown Wilmington that will be anchored by the new museum and the New Hanover County Public Library. The relocation and exhibit installation process is expected to take about seven months, with an anticipated opening in July 2026.

Visitors who want to see the current museum before it closes can stop by during regular hours Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m., except December 24–26, when the museum will be closed for the Christmas holiday.

According to museum officials, the Grace Street facility will include permanent exhibits and classrooms, a 60-seat planetarium, outdoor learning spaces, a traveling gallery, and hands-on science and history exhibits including Cape Fear Stories, Port City Play, Science Matters, and Curious Nature. A 5,000-square-foot rotating exhibition space will host visiting features, beginning with “Amazing Pollinators” in August 2026.

“The museum team has spent years developing exhibition content to bring a modern, state-of-the-art cultural amenity to New Hanover County,” Museum Director Kate Baillon said in the announcement. “We look forward to welcoming visitors in summer 2026.”

The existing museum and park at 814 Market Street will remain in use after the new museum opens, serving as a research center, collections facility, educational workspace, and exhibit fabrication site.