The City of New Port Richey and the New Port Richey Community Redevelopment Agency are working hard, smart, and together with citizens and all interested stakeholders on making New Port Richey the best walkable, waterfront historic hometown in Florida.  As part of bringing this vision to life, the City and Agency are very interested in exploring the establishment of a children’s museum in our community because:

            Children’s museums can…

• Educate and inspire children to learn, which can lead them to better, more prosperous lives, which helps them, the community, and the world.
• Have a positive impact on the local economy by:
  •  Attracting visiting families and increasing tourism.
  • Creating jobs through direct, indirect, and induced employment.
  • Increasing spending in the local economy.
  • Contributing to workforce development.  The workforce of tomorrow, a cornerstone of successful economic development, starts with education today.
•  Improve the quality of life in the communities they serve for the foregoing reasons and because they are fun, engaging, gathering places that provide their citizens with meaningful experiences that educate, captivate, and instill a sense of community pride.

As the Board may be aware, Great Explorations Children’s Museum is a 501(c)3 organization founded in St. Petersburg in 1986 and is currently an industry leader operating an accredited facility of 24,000 square feet that serves over 200,000 visitors annually.  Additional information regarding Great Explorations as an organization and facility is attached for your reference. 

As the Board may also be aware, Great Explorations has identified the need and potential demand for a children’s museum in West Pasco, recognizing the City of New Port Richey as an ideal location.  Alan Kahle, COO of Great Explorations, has been engaged in conversations with Councilman Altman and other local stakeholders for several years on how Great Explorations might serve New Port Richey and the surrounding region.  Many approaches have been brainstormed, including the creation of a full-blown Discovery Center, which can be fairly characterized as a cross between a children’s museum and science museum, in the former Health Department Building.

While the establishment of a destination children’s museum through a direct turnkey transaction might be an alluring prospect, the desired outcome is often the result of a grassroots movement that starts with a critical mass of local supporters and a relatively smaller, more modest initial location that grows organically.  In addition to a fitting physical location and high-quality exhibits, a leading children’s museum relies on a deep network of local support, which includes volunteers and donors, that takes time to build.  Accordingly, as a logical first step in what should be looked upon as a longer journey, our City Administrative Team has collaborated with Great Explorations to create a proposed 4-month Summer Program which could be hosted at the City Library, Rec Center Summer Camp, and select City Special Events at a cost of approximately $10,000.

As more particularly set forth in the attached “Proposed Summer Program,” Great Explorations would provide a mix of programming through its mobile planetariums (large and small) and interactive sessions on approximately 17 different dates over the course of May through September for children of all ages.

In addition to hosting Great Explorations and providing in-kind support and coordination, the City is being asked to offset half of the program costs in the form of a challenge grant.  It is anticipated that Great Explorations, working with our local stakeholders, will raise the other half of the budget for the Summer Program through private contributions. 

Should the Summer Program come to fruition, the parties hope that the resulting participation and community interest will generate a growing groundswell of support that leads to the creation of standing exhibits at the Library, Rec Center, and/or Downtown storefront and, ultimately, to the establishment of a destination children’s museum in New Port Richey.  This journey would begin in earnest with this first step.