BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Construction of the Knock Knock Children’s Museum is expected to begin by December.
Museum executive director Staci Duhe told The Advocate (https://bit.ly/1tjVKa9) that the museum has raised $8.6 million.
She said the money will cover construction costs and the first phase of exhibits.
“Everything is ready to roll, the building has been designed, the construction documents have been created, the only step next is to put a shovel in the dirt,” she said.
The construction contract has not yet been put out to public bid.
Funding for the museum has come from grants, donations and foundations. Duhe said It’s been a 10-year process and more money is still needed for exhibits.
Construction of the building and its exhibits will take about 18 months. An opening is expected in 2016.
The 30,000-square-foot facility will be in City Park on Dalrymple Drive near Interstate 10. In 2010, the East Baton Rouge Recreation and Park Commission and the children’s museum signed off on an agreement to use the public park.
While a decade may seem like a long time to wait for the museum, Duhe said, the final product will be worth the anticipation. Early on, when museum organizers asked for community input, it was suggested they start small and expand the museum in phases.
“But the community said, ’That’s not what we want. We’re Baton Rouge and we’re the capital region, with two of the best learning institutes in the state,’ ” Duhe said. “It takes time to put together all these pieces to put together a best-in-class museum.”
So far, organizers have planned and funded three exhibit spaces called Learning Zones, targeted toward children 8 and younger.
The hands-on exhibits are intended to help children learn through “meaningful, purposeful play,” while promoting curiosity and literacy.
The exhibits will use donated construction materials such as plastic, foam, paper, wire and wood. Children will be encouraged to invent, build and take things apart.
One exhibit will have a multilevel climbing feature where kids can sit on surfaces modeled after open books suspended in the air.
The museum eventually will have 18 exhibits, including a bubble playground, a pet-care room called “Paws and Claws” and an Art Garden.
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Information from: The Advocate, https://theadvocate.com
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