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Children's Museum is playing catchup

By SANDRA THOMPSON
Published September 30, 2006

Two years ago when Mayor Pam Iorio gave the Children's Museum of Tampa a choice chunk of land near the riverfront, I heard people saying, "What children's museum?" Or, "Why do we need a children's museum anyway? We've got MOSI!" Or, "Why downtown?"

I was one of those people.

I admit I didn't know much about Tampa's Children's Museum or children's museums in general. I knew that Rafael Vinoly had designed a children's museum in Brooklyn that looks like a giant yellow butterfly. I had bought earrings with a hologram at Great Explorations, the children's museum in St. Petersburg, when it opened 20 years ago.

I couldn't remember if I had ever gone to the Children's Museum of Tampa, which you may know as Kid City, tucked behind Lowry Park Zoo.

When I drove out there last month, I passed right by it. Set back from the street, the low bright yellow frame building looked insubstantial and, well, temporary.

The sign, faded and printed on something that looked like an old sheet, said "Welcome to the Children's Museum of Tampa" and "Coca-Cola."

In back of that building is Kid City, an outdoor cluster of kid-sized buildings. It has a post office, pediatrician's office, bank, supermarket and - since this is Tampa, after all - a real estate office. Most of the buildings have sponsors - McDonald's, Publix, Verizon and so on. Kids can put on little uniforms and play at working there.

It's cute, although a little worse for wear, but I'd have more expected something like this in a small town.

And, no, none of it will be a part of the new downtown museum.

St. Petersburg's children's museum, Great Explorations, is on Fourth Street next to Sunken Gardens. Its executive director, David Penn, had headed Tampa's Children's Museum until two years ago, and I had wondered why he left just as Tampa's effort seemed to be taking off.

When I went inside Great Explorations, I saw why.

The space is much larger than I had expected and the high ceiling makes it seem vast. It looks bright, cheerful and up-to-the-minute. It feels energized. When I was there, construction was under way for new exhibits.

The museum has partnerships with Bits N Pieces Puppets, American Stage and visual artist David Bewley. St. Petersburg Fire Rescue has hand-built a small fire engine. The brochure of programs, classes and camps is 23 pages long. The museum has 2,000 members.

Yes, St. Pete beat us on this one, too.

It turns out, so has almost everyone else - 200 children's museums have been built in the last 15 years.

But hey, what about the Museum of Science and Industry? Isn't that a children's museum?

Actually, no. A classic children's museum incorporates not only science but also art, history, community, safety, diversity and literacy. A children's museum is for little kids who are just starting on their learning curve, ages toddler to 8. They learn through play.

Heidi Shimberg, the force behind Tampa's new Children's Museum, traveled all over the country to garner ideas from top children's museums. Her group has worked with exhibit design teams from Memphis, Chicago and Indianapolis to plan the museum's 15 exhibits. Architectural firm Gould Evans was recently hired to design the building.

A search is on for an executive director.

And the downtown location?

In many cities, children's museums have been an integral part of downtown revitalization efforts.

Need I say more?

Sandra Thompson, a Tampa writer, can be reached at sthompson125 @tampabay.rr.com City Life appears on Saturday.

[Last modified September 30, 2006, 01:33:30]