09/23/2013 Discover! Children’s Museum Extends Pilot Project Two Months

Plans: Museum Will Collect Additional Data; Permanent Location Found
September 23, 2013
By Kyle Spurr, The Chronicle

Discover! Children’s Museum, the pilot project at the Twin City Town Center in Chehalis, will remain open through December in the same location to collect more data and support for a full-scale museum.

The experimental pilot museum opened in February for six months and was later extended through October. It is now being extended a second time.

“We have continued to see positive numbers above our expectations,” Allyn Roe, the Children’s Museum Advisory Group vice chair, said. “We want to get more data and look for foundation grants.”

The pilot museum has seen more than 12,000 guests as of Friday, tripling expectations.

Dec. 31 will the the pilot museum's final day, despite the project’s success.

Roe said there might be a gap between the pilot project closing and a permanent location opening in the county.

The Children’s Museum Advisory Group, which operates under the nonprofit Friends of the Chehalis Community Renaissance, is looking for a permanent location that is about three-times the size of the 3,300 square-foot rented space, Roe said.

“We would have to raise more money (for the pilot musuem),” Roe said. “We would rather put the money into a long-term gain.”

The entire pilot project is expected to cost about $50,000.

Hickory Farms has used the museum's space in the Twin City Town Center during the past holiday seasons, but this year Hickory Farms will use an open space near Radio Shack.

After Dec. 31, the museum will have to find a new director since the interim director Marilynn Chintella plans to step down. Chintella, a retired Chehalis and Toledo science teacher, became the interim director after director Jim Valley resigned.

Later this year, the museum will begin recruiting a director for the permanent location.

The pilot project has relied on paid attendance and donations from individuals and private foundations. The funding raised has allowed the project to extend for a second time.

“We have the means to do it so we are doing it,” Roe said.