The Children’s Museum of Eau Claire is a non-profit organization that was the inspiration of Patrick Rebman.  In September of 2000, Patrick was talking with an Eau Claire City Council member about Boyd School – an elementary school in Eau Claire that was going to be replaced with a new building at a different location.  The Council member told Patrick that the City was going to give the old building away or sell it for $1.   Patrick, the father of a five-year old daughter, had the inspiration to use the building to create a children’s museum and asked his friends, Suzie Slota & Tina Radichel, to help him.

As it turned out, Boyd School was not being given away or sold for a small amount of money and Patrick, Suzie & Tina quickly discovered that it probably wasn’t a feasible location for the new museum.  However, everyone who heard of the idea to start a museum was excited and before long a number of people stepped forward to support the idea.  The media also picked up the story and word of the effort spread quickly.

In December 2000 paperwork was filed and the Children’s Museum of Eau Claire, Inc. was officially formed.  A Board of Directors was formed and had its first meeting in January 2001.  By March, CMEC had received notice of its tax-exempt status.  As a 501(c)(3) organization, CMEC could now solicit tax-deductible donations.

The Board went to work developing a business plan, searching for a location, learning about children’s museums, and planning for fundraising.  As a new member of the Association of Children’s Museum, CMEC had access to information on how to start a museum and the wisdom of many others who had done the same thing.

While there was a lot of enthusiasm from many members of the community, there was also hesitancy from others.  Many people had never been to a children’s museum and didn’t understand what they were.  The word “museum” led many to believe that children’s museums displayed historical children’s items like baby buggies and dolls, instead of being the centers of hands-on learning through play that they actually are.  Many people also questioned whether or not the founders – all people in their late 20’s who had never done anything like this before – would actually be able to make the museum a reality.

So the first year and a half were dedicated to talking to as many people as possible – explaining what children’s museums are and why they are important – and developing fundraising and business plans that would reassure potential supporters that plans were in place to make the museum a reality and, once open, sustainable for years to come.

The CMEC founders and Board of Directors also worked hard to show how the Children’s Museum could help with the revitalization of downtown Eau Claire.  In November 2001 CMEC began renting the old Woolworth’s building on the corner of Barstow Street and Grand Avenue (the current location of the museum).  Back in the hey day of downtown, this intersection was known as the Four Corners and was the center of all activity.  CMEC believed it could make it that again.  Children’s museums across the country have proven to draw young families into dying downtowns, bringing in much-needed traffic and the types of people who are often times absent from deteriorating city centers.

CMEC organizers actively participated in the HyattPalma study on the revitalization of downtown Eau Claire.  In their final report, CMEC was one of only two specific businesses that HyattPalma said the City of Eau Claire must work to keep in downtown Eau Claire.  This affirmation of the role CMEC could play helped position the museum for greater support – both from the Eau Claire City Council, as well as from other community members working on downtown revitalization.  In particular, the Children’s Museum drew the attention of Charles Grossklaus, President and CEO of Royal Credit Union.  Charlie demonstrated his support by donating $100,000 to the museum from RCU and becoming the chair of CMEC’s fundraising committee.

The original plan for the opening of the museum called for a complete building renovation that would allow CMEC to use its basement, first floor and second floor.  The total cost to complete the museum was estimated to be $3.7 million.  Fundraising began in 2002, but unfortunately it did not proceed as quickly as organizers hoped.  The terrorist attacks on September 11th made fundraising difficult for many non-profit organizations, but particularly difficult for new organizations like CMEC.

In late 2003, the CMEC Board of Directors decided to scale back plans for its initial grand opening.  It felt confident that it could raise the $1.7 million needed to open one floor of exhibits by the end of 2004 and decided to proceed with two separate phases.  The first phase, planned to open by the end of 2004, would offer the public five interactive exhibits, a programming & birthday party room, and gift shop.  As soon as possible after the completion of the first phase, a second and final phase of development would begin.  That phase would finish the renovation of the building and make full use of the building’s basement and second floor.

Work on the design and fabrication of the museum’s exhibits began in February 2004.  VEE Corporation and Kidzibits – two exhibit firms from Minneapolis – created five custom-made exhibits for CMEC:  Toddler Park, Bitty City, Kidstruction Zone, Body Smarts & Show Business.  Meanwhile, architectural plans were developed by Ayres Associates of Eau Claire in conjunction with Bill Greaves, a children’s museum architect from Virginia.  Market & Johnson was chosen to be the general contractor and work on the building renovations began in April.

To prepare the building for use as a museum, the old Woolworth’s escalator and two stairwells were demolished.  One stairway was rebuilt as a fire exit and the floor was filled in where the other stairway and escalator had been.  The building’s exit was moved from the center of the Barstow Street side of the building to the corner of the building – approximately where it had been when the building housed Woolworths.

Inside, a sprinkler system was installed throughout the entire building, and the first floor received new flooring, drywall and bathrooms.  Renovations were completed in October – ahead of schedule and under budget!  Five semi-truckloads of exhibits were delivered the first week in November and the exhibit installation was completed by Thanksgiving.  On December 9, 2004, the Children’s Museum of Eau Claire opened its doors to the public.

CMEC’s first year of operations was a great success with more than 53,000 visitors – a full 25% over expectations. Family memberships were also more popular than expected with more than 1,200 family memberships sold.

Three successful fundraising events in 2005 coupled with great first year sales of admissions, memberships, fieldtrips and birthday parties got CMEC off to a great start on its Phase II fundraising.  In 2006, the board moved forward with plans to expand operations into the museum’s lower level and second floor.  The expansion began with the replacement of the elevator and a stairwell and renovation of the museum’s unfinished basement.  The completed lower level opened to the public in August 2007 with a new art studio, two programming rooms and an exhibit gallery along with a new office complex and a maintenance workshop.  The second floor renovations have been completed with the exception of carpeting and paint – these will be finished when the exhibits are ready to be installed.

In April 2009, Water Works, an interactive water exhibit, was opened in the lower level exhibit gallery.  This permanent exhibit completed the lower level and was the realization of a dream from the early days of beginning the museum.  Our next step is to secure the funds necessary to complete the 2nd floor and have children and activities going in every corner of the building.  If you are interested in helping us realize this dream, contact Darcy Way, executive director, at 715-832-5437.