By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
After three years of planning construction is about to be underway on the Childrens Discovery Center.
The discovery center will be located in downtown St. Joseph at the old Plymouth building near the corner of 5th and Felix.
Mosaic Life Care Foundation President Julie Gaddie says a big factor in the choice of location was 'walkability'.
"We want young families to come, park their car, and be able to push a stroller to the discovery center, to attractions, to restaurants, and to other things to do downtown," Gaddie tells reporters. "We're looking at opportunities to cross market with other opportunities in St. Joe."
Gaddie says with the parking garage located on the west side of the discovery center families will be able to access Civic Arena, the new downtown hotel, and many other locations.
Gaddie is aware of the competition with all the museums in St. Joseph, but she says this will be a different kind of experience.
"The discovery center adds an element to that of exploration and really activity, these are things that people are going to climb on, crawl through, this is about an experience," Gaddie explains. "And this is about birth to 10-year old's and so while we will encourage partnership and look for opportunities there's a very specific need in this age group for an experience here."
The discovery center will feature 15 to 18 core exhibits as well as space for traveling exhibits. It will also have a gift shop and a cafe among several features.
One of those features will be a rooftop Exploratorium, with a view of the Missouri River.
Gaddie says the view of the river while choosing a location was always non-negotiable.
"You had to be able to stand on it and you had to be able to experience the Missouri River from that vantage point," Gaddie says. "And so that was part of the selection in location but it's also a way to give our community, both young and adults, an opportunity to see the river in an entirely different way than experiencing it standing on the corner."
Construction is set to begin soon on the building to renovate it. Gaddie says it's planned to be a two-year construction phase with the building opening Fall 2024.
