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Officials with the London Children’s Museum say they’ve raised enough money to open in their new home early next year.
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A significant milestone for the grand opening at 100 Kellogg Lane was hit this week after the museum, short $1 million, made an urgent appeal for donations in September, executive director Kate Ledgley said.
“We’re deeply thankful to every donor who brought the community’s vision for the new London Children’s Museum to life. Your generosity has built a space where curiosity will flourish for generations to come,” Ledgley said.
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The museum has collected $1.7 million in donations since September, bringing its fundraising total to $20.7 million on a total project cost of $23 million.
“This is an investment not only in our city but in the lives of children across the region,” Ledgley said.
Fundraising continues for the remaining $2.3 million shortfall, which will not prevent the opening. More than $19 million had been raised by September from governments, businesses, foundations, and and other donors.
The federal government gave $2 million in the summer of 2023 and city hall gave $2 million in 2019.
When officials made a seven-figure plea in September to stay on track for its opening, insurance giant Canada Life pledged to match as much as $100,000 in donations before Nov. 30. Canada Life already had given $150,000, continuing support that dates back to the museum’s opening in 1977.
Construction delays of roughly 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic increased costs by more than one-third, Ledgley said previously.
The new museum, first announced in 2018, will be double the size of the existing one, housed since 1977 in a former school building on Wharncliffe Road.
It will include eight hands-on, customized exhibits and interactive play areas and is expected to attract an estimated 150,000 visitors a year, up from the 100,000 who visit the existing museum annually, officials say.
The museum plans a soft launch of its new location at the end of December, with the grand opening in January. Membership sales are expected to begin soon, officials said.
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