2/7/2013 Discover! Children's Museum to Open Saturday

Start Up: Pilot Museum Will Be Open in the Twin City Town Center for Six Months

Thursday, February 7, 2013
By Kyle Spurr, The Chronicle

Discover! Children’s Museum volunteers have spent the past month building exhibits, painting murals and preparing the museum, which is set to open Saturday in the Twin City Town Center.

The scaled-down pilot children’s museum will be open in the Chehalis retail space between Michaels and Maurices for six months to gather the community’s input for an eventual full-scale museum.

“This is all very much a work in progress,” Director Jim Valley said. “We need to get the museum open and see how things function in the space.”

The pilot museum will offer a mix of exhibits including one titled “Power of Air” in which air blows through a maze of flexible tubing. There will also be a veterinarian clinic where kids can “treat” stuffed animals, a weather studio with a green screen and a farmers market with plastic produce to teach children commerce and healthy living, Valley said.

The museum will also house a paleontology fossil dig, a Lego building exhibit, a train table, a toddler area with building blocks and a music room.

“There is a lot of variety that appeals to different learning styles,” Valley said.

The Discover! Children’s Museum Advisory Group, which operates under the nonprofit Friends of the Chehalis Community Renaissance, has worked for more than four years to bring a children’s museum to Lewis County.

The advisory group recently signed a six-month lease for the 3,300-square-foot space. The pilot project is expected to cost $50,000, according to advisory group vice chair Allyn Roe.

Valley said the museum will host a ribbon cutting event at noon on Saturday.

The museum will be open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost of admission is $4 per person.

Valley said the museum is continuing to seek donations and volunteers.

A background check is required of each volunteer.

Those interested in volunteering or learning more can visit the museum’s website at www.discovermuseum.org or call (360) 996-4011.