The Groundbreaking for Discovery Woods

Dear Friend of the Museums,     

This past Saturday night, October 24, was a significant night for the museum and a milestone in our 33-year partnership with the community. More than 150 of our supporters, current and former Board members, neighbors, elected officials and staff gathered at the museum for the celebratory groundbreaking for Discovery Woods and our 2015 Evening of Thanks.


Discovery Woods is the first phase of a three-phase master plan to expand and renovate our campus, but, importantly, not to change who we are. When Don Verger started the museum 33 years ago he articulated a vision based on the needs of children and our community. It was an approach rooted in simplicity, authenticity, and joyfulness. Our plans, while ambitious and important, remain true to that original vision.

That said, Discovery Woods will transform The Discovery Museums. It will be an incredible new space that will delight and engage kids for decades to come. We are driven to construct this special space because a generation of children are leading lives that are too sedentary, too detached from nature, too distant from the delights of the outdoors. We build Discovery Woods not to transform a museum, but to transform the lives of the families we serve. 

When you visit us late next summer you will see children charting a course through the woods, either on the ground or in the trees. They will find ways to climb on rocks and logs, to hide underneath willow tunnels, to make mud pies, to swing staring up at the leaves, to get "lost" among tall plants, and to slide down a hill with their friends and family. And, they will imagine what it would be like to live in a treehouse.  

More importantly, families will have had an experience that will re-ignite--or, help them discover for the first time--a love of being outdoors. And thanks to a commitment to universal design, Discovery Woods will be a place where all kids will have those joys side-by-side.

Discovery Woods is Part 1 of our story. The next chapter will involve building a more welcoming indoor space for our growing audience, featuring great new exhibits and fresh versions of old favorites. A subsequent chapter of the story will feature a unique and wonderful outdoor creative space anchored by a very cool, multi-functional amphitheater.

With these plans, we are making an investment that will ensure our value and relevance for decades to come. These investments will provide the platform for leadership in:

  • providing meaningful, engaging science learning experiences
  • advocating for and demonstrating the importance of play for our youngest learners
  • and, of course, getting kids outdoors to play.

 

It takes a lot of support to realize ambitious plans, and our Campaign for The Discovery Museums is off to a great start. Since the Campaign officially began two years ago, we have raised just over $6 million dollars in commitments from donors who believe in this museum and want as many children as possible to have a Discovery Museums experience. We've received gifts from local individuals and families; the Town of Acton; the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund; local, state and national charitable foundations; and the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. Such broad support signals not just the importance of this campaign, but the proven impact we have had on the families we've served over the years.
 

Most especially, we owe a debt of gratitude to The Manton Foundation, which started this campaign with a one-to-one challenge grant of $3 million and has been unfailingly encouraging--our biggest cheerleaders. We are just $250,000 away from fulfilling the challenge and with your help we could do that by year-end.

For more information on the project and event, please see our announcement press release, article in The Boston Globe, photos from the event on Facebook, and story and photos from The Beacon.  You can get a good look at our project renderings here and here. You can also watch the event's speaking program: Board President Bill Ryan, CEO Neil Gordon, Campaign Chair Tom Beaudoin, State Senator Jamie Eldridge, and Building Committee Chair Lees Stuntz.

I invite your reactions to our plans. I would love to hear from you if you would like to help. I encourage you follow our progress and be ready for the grand opening of Discovery Woods late next summer. To tell me what you think, please email me at

ngordon [at] discoverymuseums.org.

 

Best,

Neil H. Gordon

Chief Executive Officer