Kansas Children’s Discovery Center plans expansion to double its size
The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center will be spreading its wings with a building expansion.
On Thursday morning, Shawnee County commissioners Kevin Cook, Aaron Mays and Bill Riphahn approved a plan for the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center to expand its building.
Kansas Children’s Discovery Center president Dené Mosier told The Capital-Journal this is an exciting opportunity for the community.
“This will allow us to host a whole different caliber of traveling exhibits,” Mosier said, “and so we’re excited about what we’ll be able to bring to the community, the economic impact that that has, driving tourism, bringing people into Shawnee County, into Topeka to spend their day in Gage Park to spend their dollars at our stores and restaurants.”
What will the Discovery Center expansion include?
The new expansion is anticipated to double the size of the museum to 30,000 square feet. Mosier said the center is regularly at near capacity. It saw a total of 120,000 visitors in 2023.
“So, we know that there is a demand for these wonderful, rich, diverse play experiences,” Mosier said.
Along with new square footage, the building will feature such new exhibits as a new climbing wall for children, three learning laboratory classrooms and a new multimedia gallery. The laboratory classrooms will also provide the opportunity for out-of-school child care for children.
The building will create multiple educator positions and full-time job opportunities.
“So, we have visited with other children’s museums throughout the country that have model that we’re looking at for that school child care and have really listened and learned how this is being executed successfully and very efficiently throughout the country,” Mosier said.
When will construction begin?
Mosier said her team is working to finalize the expansion’s timeline.
“We hope that we could potentially break ground as early as late this summer. Obviously, we still have to get everything in line first,” Mosier said.
The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center will remain open during construction.
Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.