World of Wonders Museum plans $19M expansion
What may look like boarded up buildings along Sacramento Street in Downtown Lodi, World of Wonders Museum CEO Sally Snyde sees an openair amphitheater.
She pictures thousands of county schoolchildren and families learning about the stars and planets in a 60-foot-tall media dome.
There’s also two floors of new exhibit space with a teaching lab and workshop, inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers.
While at the moment these plans are mostly blueprints, the WOW Museum is gearing up for something big.
Earlier in the fall, the nonprofit museum announced plans for a massive expansion that will cover the entire block of Sacramento Street.
Officials said the museum has acquired five buildings needed for the expansion and negotiations are still ongoing.
Since opening in March 2009, the museum saw 58,000 visitors in 2016 including 12,000 students from school districts across the Central Valley.
The planned expansion will add 42,000 square feet of additional space in a science and cultural center.
A media dome will present movies, 3-D videos, live video streaming and planetarium shows. Next door, an open-air amphitheater can host numerous live events, music and outdoor movie screenings.
There’s also a larger WOW bookstore, café and a carousel, featuring hand-carved and painted indigenous animals of San Joaquin County.
The planned expansion will be able to serve 160,000 more students a year and Snyde said the price tag is estimated to be $19 million, strictly paid through grants and donations.
“It’s going to benefit everybody; there’s nothing like us in the Central Valley,” Snyde said.
Roughly 20 percent of the museum’s visitors are from Lodi, she added, while 80 percent come from communities such as Fresno, Rio Vista and the foothills.
Snyde said what she is most looking forward to for the expansion is the unlimited possibilities young children can have to be themselves in a safe and educational environment.
“Just inspiring the kids to do something more, to get them off of their computers (and) get them outside,” she said. “I just want kids to be inspired.”