Cape children's museum leases William Street site

The papers are signed and the space is designed for the new location of Discovery Playhouse at 101 William St.

The not-for-profit children's museum has been looking for a new home since December and finally settled on the 12,000-square-foot building across from Old St. Vincent's Church on the corner of William and Main streets.

Discovery Playhouse has leased 6,500 square feet of the building, leaving plenty of room to grow, according to Martha Brown, president of the board of directors. They plan to be in the new building by October.

Discovery Playhouse currently operates out of a 1,400-square-foot space in West Park Mall, where it has been since opening in 2006. When looking for a new space, the board of directors wanted an open floor plan that could be used to fit several exhibits. They looked at several places around town, but "we hadn't gotten terribly serious about any of them," Brown said.

The Missouri DREAM Initiative, which aims to revitalize downtowns, and the prospect of pulling people downtown helped sell the warehouse space to Discovery Playhouse.

"There was just such a pull to come downtown," Brown said. She called the new location of the children's museum a "really good destination place" to offer more family activity downtown.

The new museum will have a Kid's Village with a Domino's Pizza Parlor where visitors can learn how to make play pizza, a bank with a child-size ATM full of play money, a 1952 firetruck and a medical center with hands-on activities for children to learn about exercise and nutrition.

"That'll be a great place," Matt Antill said. Antill takes his 3-year-old daughter, Tracy, to Discovery Playhouse in the mall. "She loves the place."

Antill lives near Southeast Missouri State University and said the downtown location may increase their visits. "It'd be easier for us to get there," he said.

Several exhibits are planned to teach children about the properties of water. Brown said that could range from a pulley system showing the force of water to movable channels demonstrating flow.

Discovery Playhouse also hopes for rotating exhibits to keep the museum fresh. One of the board members has been in negotiations with the Magic House St. Louis Children's Museum to borrow exhibits.

"There's lots of different ways to get rotating exhibits like that," Brown said.

Discovery Playhouse is funded three ways: admission and charging for private functions, corporate sponsorship and grant funding.

While the museum hours will remain the same, the admission price will likely go up.

The museum currently charges a $2 admission for visitors 2 years old and up. Brown said that will change to $4 when the museum moves into the new building. The board of directors is looking into offering family passes for yearly access and discounts for qualified low-income families.

"We certainly want those kids and families to be able to come," Brown said.

Brown said that asking local businesses for sponsorship and grant writing will be crucial to fund the museum. The DREAM Initiative recently awarded $142,000 in state tax credits for the renovation, meaning any business that donates to the renovation will receive up to 50 percent of that back in state tax credits.

Though the building at the beginning of William Street has plenty of exhibit space, parking space remains questionable.

"We're working on several different options for parking," Brown said.

Brown said the city-owned gravel lot next to the Red House Interpretive Center will be available and on-street parking is available on William Street. Board members also plan to talk to the church about using its parking lot.

Brown estimates the gravel lot to the south of the Red House will hold 10 to 15 cars and said she is working with Burlington Northern to remove the white trailer that sits next to the lot to open it up for more cars.

"Parking is not going to be a problem," said John Wyman, who owns the building with his wife, Jerrianne. Wyman would not specify what was in the works to provide parking but said he has a plan.

"We just can't reveal where yet," he said.

charris@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246