The primary objective of The Discovery Center is to support increased knowledge of the industrial heritage of the Highlands for all who visit the Center. It will stimulate the interest and imagination of active learners engaging in amusing and fascinating experiments. There will also be space for research and development. A secondary objective is the significant impact it will have on the economic revitalization of the Covington Downtown Historic District. Citizens, school groups, organizations, businesses, and local governments will prosper from the project because of visitors from throughout the Alleghany  Highlands and beyond.