Springfield, IL – Kidzeum of Health and Science, the children’s museum that will be located at 412 E. Adams Street, after an eight-year fundraising effort, has raised enough money to begin renovation of the historic Schnepp and Barnes Building the first week of July. To celebrate, Kidzeum is hosting, in partnership with HSHS St. John’s Children’s Hospital a Construction Kick-off event on June 29, 2017 at 2:00 in front of Kidzeum.
The Adams block between 4th and 5th Streets will be closed for a construction ceremony and announcement of the winning name for the City of Springfield’s Healthy Body Gallery. A reception at Café Moxo will immediately follow as well as bubble blast activities and exploration of construction and rescue vehicles. Families are welcome to participate. For more information, visit the Kidzeum’s website: www.kidzeum.org; Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/spfldkidzeum/; or call (217) 971-4435.
There is a chance of storms on Thursday. In the event of afternoon storms, the kid’s activities will be cancelled and the ceremony and reception will be hosted at St. John’s Children’s Hospital.
The architects for the Kidzeum are BLDD Architects, the same architects that designed the Children’s Museum of Illinois in Decatur. The general contractor is Harold O’Shea Builders. Renovation/construction will take eight to nine months following a two to three month installation of the exhibits fabricated by Red Box Workshop. Kidzeum is hopeful for a May 2018 opening.
Kidzeum volunteers have raised $6.99 million dollars for building renovations and exhibit design and fabrication. St. John’s Children’s Hospital is Kidzeum’s premier sponsor and has contributed $1.25 million. The City of Springfield has contributed $1.2 million and the State of Illinois has contributed $1 million. A true example of a private/public partnership, all other contributions have been from local families, foundations and businesses. Despite having raised $6.99 million dollars, Kidzeum will continue their fundraising efforts throughout the construction process to raise an additional $450,000 to ensure once doors are open Kidzeum will be debt free.
About Kidzeum of Health & Science
The Kidzeum of Health & Science will be located in the nationally registered, historic buildings at 412, 414 and 416 East Adams Street. The Kidzeum of Health and Science will be designed with a focus on fun and learning. Kidzeum will be a three story, 25,000 square foot children’s museum dedicated to teaching children of all abilities about health and science through discovery and play. Kidzeum will offer four major galleries of exhibits: Healthy Body Gallery, Healthy Community Gallery, Healthy Environment Gallery and Farm to Market.
