A new interactive children’s museum is coming to downtown Buckhannon, bringing hands-on learning and a community gathering space to Main Street.
Appalachian Impact program coordinator Julie McCourt attended the Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur meeting on December 2 to thank members for grants and outline plans for the new location at 64 East Main Street, the former H&R Block building.
“We stand here, not just for ourselves at Appalachian Impact, but for the children of the community and the county,” McCourt said. “They are why we purchased the wind tunnel and the light table from the grant you gave us, part of the completion of our children’s museum. It’s similar to a Discovery Center for learning and playing on Main Street in Buckhannon.”
The space will feature distinct areas for different age groups and purposes.
“One side is designed for older kids who will be able to utilize hands-on learning with magnets, Legos, marbles and building blocks,” McCourt said. “The other portion is designed with the community in mind, so they’ll have play booths that businesses can sponsor. Then there’s the toddler area, with a nursing area for moms and babies.”
Appalachian Impact hopes to make the space a field trip destination for local schools and programs.
“We have big plans of reaching out to Head Start children for free field trips to our center and hosting local authors for play days based on their books,” McCourt said. “The possibilities are limitless with the ways the space can make a difference. Our dreams for this space have always been to create a world where opportunity, growth, learning and community-supported relationships can thrive.”
She noted that indoor educational play options for children in Buckhannon are limited.
“Filling the gaps in our community has always been a priority,” McCourt said.
The museum could open by late April or May, pending the outcome of several grant applications.
“I think the hope would be to open two days a week, like 10 a.m. to noon Mondays and Wednesdays, and then an evening time,” McCourt said. “One of the grants we wrote is to hopefully work with the college and have a few students we pay to help — we’re trying to work that out so we could have some evening hours and possibly weekends.”
Appalachian Impact will also house offices at the new location and plans to continue offering a meeting space for community groups.
“At the Hampton building, we hosted various youth groups who needed a space but didn’t have money to pay for it; we hosted Girl Scout troops and several church youth groups,” McCourt said. “Now that we’re on Main Street and we’re actually paying rent, it looks a little bit different, but the rest of the space is designed as a hangout area, a space for groups to use.”
