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Confetti blasted into the air as Sydney Johnston cut a ceremonial ribbon Friday to mark the official grand opening of the London Children’s Museum in its new home.
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The 13-year-old was flanked by Penelope Melito, 8, and four-year-old Jett Nagy – all of them grandchildren of museum founder Carol Johnston – for the long-awaited moment at 100 Kellogg Lane.
The milestone marks a new chapter in the museum’s history that started in 1977 when Johnston, inspired by a family trip to the Boston Children’s Museum, opened Canada’s first-ever such venue in London.
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The museum first opened in the London Towers on the southwest corner of Dundas and Colborne streets, but it outgrew those downtown digs and in 1982 relocated to 21 Wharncliffe Rd. S., its home for decades.
Friday’s grand opening weekend follows a soft launch in late December, when 7,000 visitors flocked to the east-end attraction.
The 3,300-square-metre space on the fourth floor of the former cereal factory is the result of years of consultations, workshops, surveys and interviews. More than 500 kids, families and community members provided feedback on the planning and design process. Nearly $21 million of the $23-million fundraising goal has been achieved.
The museum features eight new immersive exhibits:
- Branching out: A multi-level treehouse village fit for climbing, crawling and balancing.
- Community roots: A child-sized town designed for role-playing.
- Farm works: Kids will learn how food is produced, processed and sold.
- Stream: Allows kids to explore water physics and life on the water; it features a 21-metre water table.
- Above and beyond: Kids can “blast off to the International Space Station” and learn about the stars, constellations and planets.
- Unearthed: Bones, rocks and minerals can be studied while exploring the world of dinosaurs.
- Discovery labs: An interdisciplinary space that promotes creativity through tinkering, crafting, designing, experimenting and hacking.
- The Annex: An open space for events and temporary exhibits.
Admission to the museum is sold out for this weekend, but registration is open online for future dates at londonchildrensmuseum.ca.
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