Children’s Museum seeking to relocate
Published 1:06 pm Friday, June 2, 2017
After 13 years at its Broad Street location, the Children’s Museum is seeking a new home on the lakefront.
Mayor Randy Roach said the museum recently approached the city about relocating from 327 Broad St. to a city-owned tract of land at the northwest corner of Gill Street and Lakeshore Drive across from Millennium Park.
The two drafted a cooperative endeavor agreement that would allow the museum to begin raising money and developing a master plan. City Council members will vote on the agreement June 21.
“It’s the first step in an effort to determine whether or not it’s feasible to relocate the Children’s Museum and make that particular site work,” Roach said.
He noted that moving the museum to that site — which he described as oddly shaped with “limited functional value” — wouldn’t prevent other lakefront plans from happening. He said that having Millennium Park and the museum in one area could end up enhancing the attractiveness of both.
Dan Ellender, executive director of the Children’s Museum, said he and his team have wanted to relocate for years and decided that the lakefront would be ideal. Many museum visitors come from out of town, he said, and locating right off Interstate 10 would make it more accessible.
“We just feel like it would be great for Lake Charles to have something out on the lakefront that would be for the kids — that’s really what it’s all about,” Ellender said. “Beaumont is working on a new (children’s) museum, and Baton Rouge is working on a new museum. I think it’s time for our Children’s Museum, too.”
Ellender noted that the agreement with the city represents the first step in a lengthy process and that the museum still has to secure funding.
The agreement gives the museum 180 days to develop a preliminary site plan, determine the project’s cost and develop a reasonable timeline for fundraising.
The City Council would then have 45 days to either approve the plan or refer it to the Downtown Development Authority. After receiving recommendations from the DDA, the council would have another 45 days to approve. As the project advances, the city would negotiate a lease agreement and parking plan.
In addition to reserving the property for the Children’s Museum, the city would commit $650,000 toward the project if it comes to fruition, according to the agreement.
Roach said the $650,000 was previously dedicated to the National Hurricane and Science Museum, which recently canceled its plan to build on the lakefront. The city received the money from an $800,000 Dow Chemical grant for wetland and environmental education; the first $150,000 went to help fund a wetland exhibit at the Children’s Museum.
Ellender said the exhibits can all be relocated to the new property, a 4.2-acre tract, if the project moves forward. He said he and his team are hoping the new building allows for more exhibits as well, enabling the museum to continue growing.
The museum got an unexpected upgrade after a fire in April 2009 nearly destroyed the building. Ellender said the community rallied after the fire, providing funds for it to reopen within the year and to add new exhibits over time.
“The outpouring was tremendous,” Ellender said. “We had children turning in money from lemonade stands and giving us birthday money. Practically every city in the area wanted to come forward with some funds and just about every organization and volunteer group. It was really heartwarming to see that.”
Because of the support the community has shown in the past, he said, he is hopeful that fundraising efforts for the new museum will be successful.
“We feel pretty confident that the people of Southwest Louisiana are going to be behind this,” Ellender said. “We’re really going to appeal to the community when that happens.”
Outlined above is the proposed site for the Children’s Museum’s relocation.
