A 2009 report from the UK - download the pdf below.

Context: in May 2007, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee launched an inquiry into whether science and discovery centres should be publicly funded. Science and discovery centres are described in the report as “an extremely diverse group, with the common characteristics of the use of interactive exhibits to spark curiosity and to help people to understand scientific issues and phenomena”. The impetus for the inquiry was a widespread concern about science centres’ financial sustainability. Two of the 18 science centres funded by the Millennium Commission had to be closed down just a few years after the opening, while a third closed two of its three attractions. These developments raised concerns that science centres were in financial distress.