Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Children’s museum forced to close

- THIA JAMES

For the Children’s Discovery Museum on the Saskatchew­an, the unexpected early closure of its longtime home in Market Mall is bitterswee­t, but an opportunit­y.

Earlier this month, a water-main break caused flooding at the mall that affected some of the storefront­s in the building, including the Children’s Discovery Museum location.

Water seeped into the layers of walls and into the flooring, causing damage. Its doors in the mall will remain closed.

The museum salvaged some components, but restoring them would require breaking them down to fix the layers of material affected.

Market Mall’s property manager, Betty Anne Fisher, declined to comment about the flooding in the building or its cause.

With the museum set to open in its new home at the former Mendel Art Gallery next spring, staff will focus on showcasing the museum’s offerings in the community.

Executive director Amanda Mcreynolds Doran said staff already knew there would be a period between the planned closure of the Market Mall location in December and opening day of the new location in 2019, and there were plans for that transition­al period.

“It’s disappoint­ing because it is a sad ending to a place (where) we had built a lot of happy memories. We’ve helped a lot of children, we’ve had a lot of school visits there,” she said. “We’re very sad about the way in which we had to close, that we couldn’t keep that resource open for families, at least in the first half of this winter.”

Constructi­on on the new museum is expected to be complete in January, followed by exhibit installati­on.

 ?? NEIS KAYLE ?? A water main break at Market Mall earlier this month caused flooding that affected some stores.
NEIS KAYLE A water main break at Market Mall earlier this month caused flooding that affected some stores.

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