By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A celebration in downtown St. Joseph was held to celebrate the launch of a project that will bring a Children's Discovery Center to St. Joe.
Officials from several entities associated with the project gathered in front of the Plymouth Building, where in two short years the top-of-the-line museum will be.
Buchanan County Presiding Commissioner Lee Sawyer says the county is proud to be a partner in the project.
"To have an interactive learning center like this for young people, you see some little ones out in the audience, and just knowing that before too long they'll be able to be in this facility learning and growing and developing," Sawyer tells a crowd at the Plymouth Building. "Really in the past to come to something like this, you would have to go to Kansas City or Lincoln or Omaha to have this kind of an experience for young people."
Buchanan County designated no more than 4-million dollars of congressional funds for COVID relief to help fund the project.
St. Joseph Mayor John Josendale says he along with city and county officials worked with the Mosaic Life Care Foundation on the project. Josendale says he's pleased with the work the Foundation staff did on the design.
"And I think as you see the design, as you see the building, to repurpose this building into this is really a great starting point," Josendale says. "And again, I appreciate the fact of what they've done, I appreciate the fact we're working the city, the county, Mosaic, (and the) Mosaic Foundation to make this all work."
Josendale calls the Discovery Center a great start to help grow opportunities to improving St. Joseph and making it a better place.
Discovery Center Committee Chair Andrea Robinson says the Discovery Center is a signal to young people that they are cared about.
"We tell them that we want them to be a healthy, happy, lifelong, inquisitive learner," Robinson explains. "Most importantly we tell them together, with Mosaic Life Care, their city, and county, we are making a crucial investment in their future so it can be better and brighter in their daily life."
Robinson says the Discovery Center will strive to help children make choices and changes that will have a lasting and meaningful impact.
Construction is set to begin next week on the Discovery Center. It is expected to be finished in two years.
