JUNIOR MUSEUM REOPENS AT TEMPORARY HOME

If opening day was any hint, Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo’s new temporary home is a hit with high-energy youngsters.

Children experimented Tuesday afternoon with handson and climbing-friendly science and nature exhibits. But they also had just as much fun running around in open areas between exhibits, something they couldn’t do at the museum’s permanent location at Rinconada Park, which is being completely rebuilt.

“It’s very open and it’s got a lot of light and areas for kids to run around in,” said Nick Marquez, of Antioch, who was on hand for the reopening Tuesday with his

2½-year-old daughter Annabelle, friends and other families. “I like the feel, but I miss the outside area. … We really like seeing the birds.”

“We do miss the zoo park,” added Michelle Chang, of Palo Alto, who was with her 4½-year-old granddaughter Sara Grossi.

The Junior Museum will be housed at 4050 Middlefield Road at Cubberley Community Center for up to two years as the Rinconada site, which has been its home since 1941, is rebuilt to nearly double its previous size. Junior Museum Executive Director John Aikin said construction is expected to be completed in January 2020 and the museum will reopen to the public by summer 2020.

In its temporary location, Cleo the boa constrictor, rats, hedgehogs and other small creatures are on display but all the waterfowl have been sent to other facilities that have pools. Most larger-sized zoo animals housed at Cubberley are not available for public viewing, but some are made available for summer camps and offsite educational programs.

The rebuilt museum is being modernized and will feature an education building for classes; a new outdoor zoo with a netted enclosure so kids can interact directly with meerkats and birds like flamingos, scarlet ibises and turacos that can be fed by hand; “crawlthrough” opportunities in a raised turtle pond and a large artificial tree; and new science exhibits, some of which Aikin said will be tested at the Cubberley site.

The museum rebuild is funded by $25 million raised by the Friends of the Junior Museum & Zoo and $6.7 million contributed by the city.

DAI SUGANO — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER 4-year-old Jett Kasberg, of Hayward, examines a preserved bug using a magnifying glass at the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo, which has been temporarily moved to the Cubberley Community Center in Palo Alto, on Tuesday.

A stuffed toy dragonfly hangs inside the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo.

DAI SUGANO — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Lucy Morrison, 6, center, reacts as she touches a domesticated European ferret during a zoo camp.