What began as a dining-room conversation 13 years ago is now about to become a blooming reality – the regional Great River Children’s Museum in the heart of downtown St. Cloud.
One day in 2012, Jane Ellison and Glen Palm were having a conversation in their St. Cloud home about how good it would be to have a children’s museum so kids from all over this area could visit it to play, to have fun, to make connections and to learn together. Palm is a retired college professor, and Ellison holds a degree in infant-and-early-childhood mental health.
Their dream quickly took root when civic leaders and organizations embraced that idea and jumped aboard, forming a non-profit organization dubbed “Exploratorium.”
Since then, slow but steady progress followed. The group’s members studied children’s museums in other Midwest cities, created a museum-planning team and obtained a generous building donation of the former Liberty Bank on Seventh Avenue south of Division Street in downtown St. Cloud.
They also hired an executive director (Cassie Miles), started a fundraising campaign, sought and received grants, selected an exhibit-design firm, met often with early-childhood educators, created traveling exhibits, accepted generous donations from local businesses and individuals, as well as a state grant of $7 million.
And those are just some of the major steps (and intricate coordinating work) along the way. After years of planning and construction, the Great River Children’s Museum is about to open this spring, perhaps as early as May.
It will have 31,000 square feet of space that includes eight exhibits for interactive play-and-learning experiences, along with places to hold birthdays, workshops and other special events.
The museum is a regional facility. Children from throughout central Minnesota – and beyond – will be warmly welcomed to visit for lots of fun, learning and creative activities.
The “heart” of the museum is one of its ongoing interactive exhibits called “Climber to the Clouds.” Children will climb above cityscapes and rivers as they learn about weather and even create their own rain, thunder and rainbows. That permanent, dazzling exhibit was made possible by a grant from the Coborn Family Foundation. Two other interactive exhibits are dubbed Great Big River and Headwaters.
The museum will also offer outreach programs for children, parents, caregivers and teachers at parks, festivals, schools and other venues.
On its website, the mission of the museum is expressed as follows:
“From birth, children practice and develop a wide range of skills as they play, explore, discover and learn. Play encourages critical thinking and problem solving, cross-cultural competence, creative thinking, collaboration, persistence, communication and curiosity.”
Throughout the last 13 years, hundreds of individuals and organizations have given generously of their money and their time to make the Children’s Museum a dream come true.
Donations are still needed for all kinds of ongoing needs. There are also job openings available and volunteer opportunities. To learn more about the museum and/or to donate, visits its website at greatrivercm.org.
