Discovering a place to play

Each time she visited family in Normal, Ill., Martha Brown couldn't help but admire the Children's Discovery Museum there.

"Once we started talking about it, people said,"yeah, there's really no place to take kids here," said Brown, who works for in the planning services department for the city of Cape Girardeau.

So the dreaming began.

Now, Brown is part of a recently formed not-for-profit organization called the Southeast Missouri Children's Museum working toward establishing a place for families to "play, have fun, learn and discover."

The museum will open in a temporary space with the name Discovery Playhouse at Westfield Shoppingtown by June 6, but the group has long-term hopes of establishing a location in downtown Cape Girardeau.

"Once we're in the space in the mall, I think this will take off like wild fire," said Tracey Glenn, who also serves on the museum board.

Glenn said the Discovery Playhouse will have a variety of hands-on exhibits similar to those found in the Magic House in St. Louis or the Bootheel Youth Museum in Malden, Mo.

Examples include a Lewis and Clark exhibit, a train table and a miniature village with a grocery store, medical clinic and fire station. The organization also plans to hire a teacher to run the summer program at the mall. Arts and crafts classes, a literacy program and science experiments will also be part of the experience.There will be space for birthday parties as well.

The museum will be funded by donations and grants -- both of which the board of directors are in search of right now.

The space provided at the mall -- located across from the Pasta House -- is being renovated, so they're also looking for volunteers to help build exhibits and work with children once the playhouse is open.

"Our goal is to make this a real community effort," said Brown. "There's a real need to fulfill. Since this is the "show me" state, we thought opening for the summer would be enough to show people we're serious about this."

The admission fee for the playhouse will be $2. For more information about the group, contact Brown at 651-5263 or Glenn at 651-3061.

cmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128