A $500,000 third-floor construction project at the local kidscommons children’s museum will highlight camping and related activities for youngsters to encourage them to enjoy the outdoors.
And the public support campaign to cover costs has begun. A total of $100,000 is needed by year’s end, since 80 percent of the effort — $400,000 — already has been covered by grants and other support, according to organizers.
The 3,000-square-foot project, in the planning stages for about two years, is called Camp Kidscommons, and marks the first major work and the first major capital campaign in a decade at the facility at 309 Washington St. in downtown Columbus.
The Cincinnati-based Swath Design has designed the layout, according to Ben Wagner, the museum’s executive director.
He said some pre-construction work, to be handled by a firm to be named soon, could begin by next month.
Completion is expected to be by the end of 2020, Wagner said.
The layout calls for a treehouse that could accommodate maybe five children at a time, a forest canopy, a nature center with interchangeable exhibits, a campsite area, a camp store, and an underground area highlighting everything from worms to moles.
“We definitely want to encourage exploration of nature,” Wagner said.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
