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Museum sweet museum

By Megan Malugani

While a group of parents, businesspeople, and community leaders are still actively searching for an existing building in which to house the brand-new Children’s Museum of Rochester, supporters of the project are simultaneously constructing a pint-sized interactive playhouse, dubbed “CMR Under Construction,” that will showcase the educational fun that children’s museums provide.

The CMR playhouse is being built by Weis Builders, Inc. and will debut at Aldrich Memorial Nursery School’s annual carnival on May 2. The playhouse is intended to teach kids about construction by giving them hands-on opportunities that may include laying carpet or tiles, painting walls with water, using velcro as siding, and connecting circuits to make a doorbell ring or a light turn on.

“This playhouse will serve as our first mini-exhibit and will offer a glimpse of how children’s museums can engage and excite our kids,” says CMR president Scott Liebl. “We think kids will love it, and we’re making the playhouse easy to assemble and disassemble so we can use it throughout the coming year to build excitement for our project at various community events.”

The CMR has taken substantial steps forward in recent months by conducting a fundraising feasibility study (which showed strong support for a children’s museum in Rochester), and by investigating several potential buildings in which to establish the museum.

“We’re still searching for that perfect low-cost location for our museum,” Liebl says. “Through our research, we’ve found that most highly successful children’s museums were begun in buildings that were either donated or made available for great deals, and we’re still hoping for a situation like that,” he says.

After a site is selected, a fundraising capital campaign will begin, Liebl says. The CMR is also beginning the search for an executive director.

Check out the CMR’s newly redesigned website at www.childrensmuseumrochester.org, and visit the CMR at the Aldrich Memorial Nursery School Carnival (855 Essex Parkway NW) on May 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The carnival—which raises money for Aldrich’s financial assistance programs—is open to the public, and tickets are available at the door.