FOR primary school pupil Grace Taylor, the closure of Science Oxford was a particularly sad moment.

The 10-year-old has been a regular visitor at the science centre in St Clement’s Street, where her mother works.

But now, after eight years and 90,000 visitors, it closed its doors with a farewell party on Saturday.

The centre, which has been educating and entertaining visitors since 2005, announced it would be closing its doors in May.

It revealed it had been losing tens of thousands of pounds every year.

Staff at the centre in East Oxford, which is run by the Oxford Trust charity, will now focus on fundraising to build a new £35m Magnet science centre next to Oxford Castle, which they hope will open in 2016.

Grace, who goes to St Swithun’s Primary School in Kennington is a regular visitor, as her mum Bridget Holligan is the centre’s head of learning.

On Saturday she was using straws to try and make a structure to hold as much weight as possible.

She said: “I don’t think I particularly learnt anything but maybe you don’t know when you are learning.

“I like the idea of all the different experiments there. I am very sad it is closing but looking forward to the new one. Hopefully, it will work out.”

Programme delivery manager Emma Clare said: “Obviously it is sad to be leaving, and if we could keep it, we would, but we have got a great solution.

“We are really excited about moving.”

In the mean time, staff will continue organising family science events at town and village halls and schools around the county. The Oxford Trust also created the annual Oxfordshire Science Festival which now attracts 30,000 people to events across the county.

Plans for the Magnet by architects Foster and Partners were submitted to Oxford City Council in April.

It is hoped the new centre will attract 150,000 visitors a year.

Oxford Trust also said it was in talks with Oxford University’s Natural History Museum in Parks Road regarding a formal partnership to stage events.

The 12 Oxford Science members of staff will now be running The Oxford Trust’s outreach programme from the Oxford Centre for Innovation in New Road, where the Magnet will be based.