Mount Pleasant Discovery Museum has raised more than $2 million, structure starting

Construction on the 10,000-foot Discovery Museum, located on Remus Road off of Isabella Road, continues through the rain on Friday. The children's museum will engage various ages through exhibits ranging from math and sciences, world cultures, literacy, regional history and the arts. (Zack Wittman/Staff Photographer)

The Mount Pleasant Discovery Museum is beginning to take shape.

More than $2 million has been raised for MPDM toward filling the museum with exhibits and covering operating expenses.

“The building is well underway,” said Jennifer Fields, co-founder of MPDM and member of the board of directors. “We’re still in the second phase of the campaign.”

The second phase of the MPDM campaign, called “let’s build a museum,” involves raising money to build exhibits, first-year operating expenses and an endowment.

As previously reported by Central Michigan Life, the goal of the capital campaign was to raise $1.8 million and $250,000 to cover the first-year operating budget.

Several commitments for exhibit sponsorship have been made, said MPDM Office Manager Heather Frisch.

“We’re still working toward the second half of the capital campaign,” she said.

Frisch said a firm date is not set for the opening of MPDM, but they are hoping for sometime this summer.

The Morey Foundation donated $1 million and promised to match up to $500,000 in donations in the form of a grant. Donations exceeded the matching grant.

“People are starting to become more interested,” Fields said. “We are still looking for corporate donors and smaller donations.”

Fields said MPDM has been talking with individuals about future donations.

Exhibits

Preliminary exhibit designs were released in a news packet detailing eight exhibits which include: The Hive, Creation Station, Riverways, Rocket Climber, The Greenhouse, Little Gardeners, A Farmer’s Market and Journey to Japan.

The Hive will include a maze featuring tunnels, the opportunity to climb into discovery points, a ramp for wheelchair access and a flower patch filled with colorful foam noodles.

Those who venture to this exhibit will have the opportunity to see a live hive, a beekeepers corner, where children can pose as a beekeeper and have the opportunity to learn how to dance like a bee does to communicate.

The exhibit areas and activities of Creation Station will include a recycled tool shed, invention zone, build a robot, build a car, Bernoulli tube, launch pad, paper airplane and flying machines.

At these stations, children will have the opportunity to make corresponding creations at each station.

Riverways will include the chance to participate in a water lab, fishing stream, Archimedes screw and water wheel, lock and dam and sluiceway, valve play, totspot table, vortex tube and riverway.

This exhibit is about filling buckets, floating boats, splashing hands and getting wet.

The Rocket Climber will include a chance to climb, partake in imaginative play, command stations and feature a solar system mural.

Climbing platforms will be carpeted, padded and enclosed for safety.

There will also be the opportunity to climb a rock wall and a third asteroid rock made from thin, ladder-like steps and round rails.

The Greenhouse will include a freshwater pond, stepping stones, story book nooks, a picnic nook, a fishing stream, lock and dam and sluiceway, a totspot table and a riverway.

Deemed the “design cornerstone” of the MPDM is the greenhouse, which provides the atmosphere of an indoor conservatory with the opportunity for children to explore.

Little Gardeners will include an infant “lily pad,” a crawling garden, a tree stump and crawl log, building blocks, Audubon birds, a chicken coup and a nursing corner.

These activities will allow young children access to developing gross and fine motor skills.

A Farmer’s Market, modeled after Mount Pleasant’s weekend summer market, will include a honey stand, veggie stand, smoothie stand and a program cart.

This environment will provide role-playing, problem solving and emerging math and language literacy.

The Journey to Japan exhibit will include a Japanese house, a Zen garden, sushi spot, kimono, haiku wall, calligraphy and an origami station.