Discovery Playhouse adding new exhibits for winter

After a successful summer, Discovery Playhouse Children's Museum's staff and board are developing new exhibits to keep crowds coming back.

Since opening in March, more than 13,000 people have visited the museum, said executive director Jennifer Mullix.

"We had an amazing start," she said. "Our attendance numbers shot the board's original estimates of what they were going to bring in out of the water."

The newness of the museum and the extreme heat helped attract families over the summer, but now that school is back in session and the weather is cooler, attendance has fallen. Birthday parties at the museum are growing in popularity though.

"The slump in attendance now allows us to be able to focus on the next steps. This is a work in progress," Mullix said.

She's working to get new exhibits ready for when winter sets in and attendance picks back up with families looking for a warm place for children to play indoors.

Polliwog Pond, made possible by a donation from Procter & Gamble, will be the museum's first new exhibit scheduled to open in late October or early November, Mullix said. This play area for preschool age children will include a boat children can catch magnetic fish from, a color sorting rainbow and sensory step lily pads. Children may not wear shoes in this area as a safety and sanitary precaution.

The outside of the museum is getting a facelift this fall, too. Additional signage and bright colored trim will make the museum appear as fun on the outside as it is on the inside, Mullix said.

Over the next four months, a $58,000 water play area originally planned for the second floor will be designed and built by an museum exhibit company and then installed on first floor.

"Water play areas are a staple in children's museums, and we want to showcase it as such and put it in the forefront so parents and children who are walking by can see what we're all about."

It will have a modular design so it can be moved to another location if needed in the future, Mullix said. Funding for the water play area was contributed by Gary and Wendy Rust and Jon and Victoria Rust.

In order to help fund the development of the museum building's second and third floors, the museum recently applied for a second round of $250,000 in Missouri Neighborhood Assistance Program tax credits.

If approved, qualified donors will receive tax credits equal to half the value of their contribution toward the project.

Mullix expects to hear early next year if the museum has been granted these credits. The museum did not use all $250,000 worth of tax credits it received three years ago, having about $53,000 left over at the end of the three-year tax credit period.

"Once we were in this building it was near the end of our three years and we just ran out of time," Mullix said.

Plans for the second floor include activities and exhibits geared toward children ages 8 to 12 in the areas of science, math, technology, engineering and the arts.

A $20,000 donation for carpet and labor has been made by Rust & Martin and Terry and Kim McDowell. Electrical and drywall work is already in progress.

Securing funds for an elevator to make the museum's second floor handicap accessible is a top priority, Mullix said.

"We don't want to create anything that is not accessible to children with special needs or their caregivers that have special needs," she said.

"As an organization, access is huge for us, whether it be your physical limitations or your socioeconomic status, we want to be accessible."

The building has a manual freight elevator, but to install an elevator to transport people could cost between $80,000 and $250,000.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

502 Broadway St., Cape Girardeau, MO