June 8,2006—Mayor Jerry Sanders, Council President Scott Peters, members of the Arts Commission and various downtown associations gathered on the site for the new Children’s Museum/Museo de los Niños San Diego today to celebrate the start of vertical construction on the Muse, a $25 million, 50,000-square-foot facility downtown with a school, performing arts spaces, art galleries and more.

The crowd cheered when executives of Leap Wireless in San Diego announced a surprise gift. The $1 million sponsorship by Leap of the Children’s Museum puts the capital campaign for the Muse that much closer to its goal.

Leap’s sponsorship will be funding the construction of the new Museum as well as 45,000 free admissions to deserving children.

“Leap is pleased to contribute to the Children’s Museum/Museo de los Niños San Diego, a stunning new landmark and the only facility in the downtown area offering a place focused entirely on children and their pursuit of artistic endeavors,” said Doug Hutcheson, president and CEO of Leap. “Leap believes that the arts play a vital role in children’s cognitive development, and we want to help to remove both physical and economic barriers to our children’s exposure to, and participation in, the gift of artistic exploration.”

“As we undertake our greatest transformation in 25 years, we stand on the threshold of a new identity for the Children’s Museum,” Kay Wagner, executive director, said. “By building this state-of-the-art, indoor-outdoor facility and expanding our programming, we are reshaping the role of the Museum as an invaluable community resource, a premier family attraction and a partner to other arts institutions in our county.”

At the brief ceremony, dubbed a “Skybreaker” as opposed to the more mundane groundbreaking ceremonies, a trumpet fanfare signaled the release of 40 doves, which circled above for a few minutes before returning to their home base. Decorative clouds adorned the construction site for the morning and allowed those in attendance to use their imagination to envision the future glass- enclosed, atrium-style Museum structure.

Designed by renowned architect and downtown San Diego resident Rob Wellington Quigley as the first “green” building in downtown San Diego, the Muse will include a dramatic entrance bridge that spans from Island Avenue into the see-through Museum to a point 17 feet above the lower level, a glass-enclosed elevator tower that rises above the building and functions as a solar cooling tower, and an angled saw-tooth roof structure with space for future solar panels. Recycled building materials, water-saving devices, natural day lighting and convection cooling will be additional environmentally friendly elements.

In addition to the Museum School, art galleries and theatrical spaces, the Muse will include a toddler area, a revolving artist-in-residence space, clay, painting and mixed-media studios, as well as a computer animation studio, party rooms and a sit-down cafe. The adjacent Museum Park will bring the artists’ works to the outdoors.

The Children’s Museum/Museo de los Niños San Diego is a cultural and educational institution with a quarter-century history of hands-on, arts-based programs for children and their families. Located in the heart of the Marina District, the Muse will be an integral part of downtown’s revitalization, according to Wagner.