Discovery Playhouse nears completion on new exhibits, installs safety feature

A great deal of progress has been made lately at Discovery Playhouse in downtown Cape Girardeau.

Not only are several long-awaited upstairs exhibits coming together quickly, but changes are being made to the lobby so a safety gate can keep young visitors from charging out the front door — and possibly into the street — before their caregivers are ready to leave the building.

“That’s just to make (the entryway) safer and more efficient,” executive director Pansy Glenn said.

To get the job done, builders had to swap the Playhouse’s gift-shop and front-office areas so the office is to the right side of the front entrance and the gift shop area faces it. The new gate can be operated only by adults.

Meanwhile, upstairs, partial walls for 16 new exhibits have gone up, and a place is marked on the floor for the airplane and control-tower attraction that’s one of the highlights of the new space.

“It’s going to be our little red plane,” Glenn said of the 1965 Cessna 150 that will greet visitors as they clear the top of the rear stairway.

Toward the back of the new second-floor exhibit space, a party room is nearing completion and should be ready in a couple of weeks.

Glenn said she hopes all the exhibits will be finished by late spring or early summer.

“We’re hoping and praying that everybody has everything done by the end of May,” she said.

Another exhibit, Phoebe’s Art Studio, already has easels and other equipment, with work remaining to be completed on the floor. Glenn said baseboards will be installed throughout the upstairs area once all the exhibits are finished.

Levi’s Adventure Trail, which was planned as an attraction at the back of Discovery Playhouse facing Middle Street, is moving to Cape County Park South because it is less expensive, Glenn said.

As construction nears its end on many aspect of the facility’s improvements, some equipment and funding needs remain, so Glenn encouraged interested donors and volunteers to call her at the Playhouse at (573) 335-7529.

They also are encouraged to buy Neighborhood Assistance Program tax credits, made available through the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The department reimburses up to half of a what a business invests.

Playhouse staff have been selling the NAP credits for about three years to help raise money for various projects.

ljones@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3652