When it comes to chaos, it's hard to beat nearly 11,000 rubber balls dropped simultaneously into a public lobby.

That's what happened Wednesday at Center in the Square.

But one should never underestimate the chaotic properties of the preparations behind such an endeavor.

Late Wednesday morning, as high winds rushed around downtown Roanoke, about 1,500 children, parents and spectators squeezed into the center's lobby for Bouncy Ball New Year at Noon.

All of them were armed with fistfuls of multicolored rubber balls and primed for the signal to drop the orbs from the second- through fifth-floor balconies.

The event, staged by the Science Museum of Western Virginia, was a promotion for the facility's "Toy Factory" exhibit, but it was also intended as a New Year's celebration for younger children who might not have been able to stay up to greet 2009 at midnight.

As the minutes counted down, elbow room was at a minimum on all five floors, atrium stairwells were clogged with visitors of all sizes, beats by a live DJ pulsed urgently and one question loomed large in everyone's mind:

What's going to happen when all of those balls fall?

"I think what's going to happen is ... many people are going to get pelted, but it's not going to hurt," said event promoter Beth Deel, who nevertheless sported a hard hat and protective glasses. "They're going to be so overjoyed that it's going to be like love pains."

Jack Stilton, the center's security supervisor, said he's used to balloons and confetti falling from above but not rubber spheres. As a precaution, he covered the front desk computer monitors.

"On a regular day, they come in a few at a time," Stilton said as the crowds swirled around him. "I'm going to be back close to the elevators so I don't get hit."

Amanda Whisnant, a nanny, brought her three charges, ages 5, 7 and 9, to the event.

"They love Center in the Square, and we come to the science museum a lot," Whisnant said. "The girls are just thrilled. I think it's going to be neat."

When the countdown arrived ("... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...") a half-dozen children on the ground floor covered their heads with foamboard signs denoting the final seconds, and the torrents of rubber began to rain down from above. The balls bounced and ricocheted around the large room.

A perspective from the first floor: The swarm of bouncing pellets wasn't painful, even when they struck the head -- and they occasionally did -- but the spectacle of objects flying in all directions simultaneously was strangely disorienting yet exciting to see and experience.

Science museum director Nancy McCrickard, who was on one of the balconies, said the act of throwing anything over the railing was an odd feeling for her.

Within minutes after the drop, the children had scooped the mess up, and there was hardly a ball to be seen anywhere on the ground.

"We haven't really leveraged the 'fun' aspect of learning" until now, said Andrew Gentiluomo, chairman of the board of the science museum. He predicted the ball drop would become an annual celebration.

"This far exceeded our expectations," he said.