After several months of delays, a new science exhibition space in Portland, Maine, will open by the end of this month with a controversial Body Worlds exhibit from German anatomist Gunther von Hagens.

Managed by travelling edutainment firm The Gold Group, Portland Science Center occupies 12,000sq ft (1,114sq m) over two floors of a building on Maine Wharf, near the Maine State Pier. The building will host rotating exhibits, likely to be two a year, which will take up the entire space of the facility. The new building also hosts a separate ground floor restaurant and an art gallery.

The unique Body Worlds exhibition – first developed by Gunther von Hagens more than 20 years ago – features real preserved human bodies and organs, stripped down to reveal individual systems. The exhibition typically tours larger cities but comes with opposition over the display of actual human remains. Since its inception, Body Worlds has attracted more than 40 million people.

Originally scheduled to open in late June, the science centre didn’t gain approval for a building permit until 24 July. Work included renovations and spraying fire-resistant materials on the walls of the space. Renovation works and bringing in Body Worlds has cost around US$1m (€905,000, £641,000).

The Gold Group has previously hosted Body Worlds as part of its travelling exhibition portfolio, which also includes Tutankhamun: The Golden King and Great Pharaohs featuring artefacts representing 2,000 years of Egyptian history; and Spy, which looks at the creation and activities of America’s various spy agencies, such as the CIA.

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