Toddler Space Will Bear Families’ Name
March 8, 2007—The Sulpizio family has made a generous gift of $250,000 to the Children’s Museum/Museo de los Niños San Diego, it was announced by Laurie Mitchell, new president of the Museum’s board of directors. The Toddler Space, a section within the new Museum that will be a multisensory, exploratory environment for children beginning to walk or crawl, will be named after the Sulpizio family.
“I have fond memories of visiting the old children’s Museum with my family as a child and want my children to be afforded the same learning and educational opportunities at the new Museum when it opens,” said Lorri Sulpizio, a longtime San Diego area resident and mother of two. “The new Museum will be a great attribute to downtown and will be a unique place for kids to learn while having fun.”
The Museum has been raising funds for its new structure since 2003 when the original Museum closed its doors so that a 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility could be built on the same site. Vertical construction began on the new facility last June and the grand opening is planned for early 2008.
According to Mitchell, the goal of the Capital Campaign is to raise $28 million. The largest portion of this, $25 million, is funding the construction of the new downtown facility and the remaining $3 million will be held as an endowment to help fund the day-to-day operations of the Museum in perpetuity.
While individual and corporate donations have contributed greatly to the effort, other sizable gifts from the Jacobs family, $5 million, and Leap Wireless, $1 million, have put the campaign that much closer to its goal. Funds also have been raised through the sale of commemorative tiles. These tiles, ranging in price from $175 to $750, will be permanently displayed in the new Museum and are on sale. Donations large and small, are still being sought and contributions can be made on-line or by phoning the Museum at 619 233 8792.
"The new Museum will continue with the best features of the old Museum and will add exciting new artists’ exhibitions," said Kay Wagner, executive director of the Museum.
The three-story facility will include art galleries, the Museum School, the Toddler Space, Clay, Art and Design Studios, the Tech Space, birthday party rooms, a revolving artist-in-residence space, children’s store and sit-down café. The adjacent Museum Park will include outdoor works by artists and space for children to create art.
The Children’s Museum/Museo de los Niños San Diego is a cultural and educational institution with a quarter-century history of arts-based programs for children and their families. The new facility at 200 West Island Avenue in downtown San Diego will be an architectural benchmark. Designed by Rob Wellington Quigley, the structure contains a cooling tower, which exhausts hot air from the naturally cooled and heated gallery spaces. The majority of the gallery and staff spaces are naturally day lit, amplified by rooftop photovoltaic panels. Quigley’s staff worked with scientists and engineers at UCSD to create an environmentally friendly structure that will set a new standard for urban green architecture. For more information on the Museum, visit the website at childrensmuseumsd.org
