MS Children's Museum under construction

from this morning's GlobeSt (7/8):

Last updated: July 7, 2008 08:21pm

$25M Children's Museum Ready to Break Ground
By John McCloud

"JACKSON, MS-Ground will break Aug. 8 on the long-awaited Mississippi Children's Museum. First conceived in the 1990s and originally scheduled to go into construction last fall, the $24.5-million project was delayed as backers sought additional funds.
Only a bit more than $18.5 million had been committed to the museum's capital campaign by the end of June, but museum board member Bill Bynum, CEO of Jackson-based Enterprise Corp. of the Delta and Hope Community Credit Union, says the organization has enough money to start work on the 43,000-sf project at 2140 Riverside Dr. in LeFleur's Bluff State Park. Completion is planned for early 2010." ...

"The museum's executive director, Susan Garrard, says she believes the project will be one of the best children's museums in the world. According to the Association of Children's Museums in Washington, DC, there are 341 children's museums in 23 countries. The organization says about one quarter of them are still in startup." ...

"The Jackson project will include 20,000 sf of exhibit space and 23,000 sf of administrative and support space. The 500-acre state park also is home to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, a 73,000-sf building at 2148 Riverside. The location of the two museums side by side is expected to boost the city's tourist potential by attracting families throughout the region," ....

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