Center in the Square

A 1914 warehouse on Market Square became five reasons to stay indoors in a city defined by outdoor access. When Norfolk and Western Railway moved its headquarters out of Roanoke in 1982, the city's identity as a railroad town ended—and the next year, Center in the Square opened, consolidating a science museum, planetarium, theater, history museum, and aquarium under one roof. The timing wasn't coincidence. The building turned a freight-handling structure into the kind of cultural infrastructure a service economy runs on. The rooftop terrace earned its keep: it's the best downtown vantage for Mill Mountain and the 88.5-foot illuminated Star that gave Roanoke its nickname. First-Friday gallery openings pull locals and visitors into the same room, which is the whole point of putting five organizations in one building. Some attractions charge separate admission; others are free. The warehouse holds what the railroads left behind—a city that had to decide what it was for. Open daily.