Brian Boyce
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Even for a museum of 23,000 square feet, 7,000 people is a big number.
“I can say I’ve never seen anything like this in all the years and all the organizations I’ve been a part of,” Rich Dunkin said inside the Terre Haute Children’s Museum door Sunday afternoon. “In all my life in Terre Haute …”
Dunkin, a board member of the museum, was one of scores of volunteers decked out in tie-dye T-shirts managing the opening weekend festivities.
And they needed every volunteer they could find.
“Four thousand people through the doors is unbelievable,” he said of Saturday’s attendance. But 1,800 came through Friday, and another 1,500 had already come through before 3 p.m. Sunday. Another three hours were left before closing time and more people were waiting outside to enter.
By all accounts, the opening weekend of the new Terre Haute Children’s Museum was a booming success.
“It’s huge,” executive director Lynn Hughes said up on the third floor, surrounded by kids rifling through the exhibits. The museum staff expected strong participation, but the combination of great weather, celebrity Bill Nye, the Terre Haute Street Fair and Farmers’ Market all brought about a mega-turnout. “You never really expect 4,000,” she said of the Saturday numbers.
The museum will be closed today as staff clean, repair and regroup. The gift shop and concessions areas had been picked clean by Sunday afternoon. Hughes said that considering the sheer volume of people going through the exhibits in a relatively short period of time, the facility was in remarkable shape. Another 1,200 will go through this week as Parke County schools visit for field trips.
“Everyone seemed to have a good time and that’s what’s important,” she said.
Admission to the museum is normally $7, or $5 as part of a group. Hughes said the museum will make an outstanding destination point for the schools of neighboring counties.
Meanwhile, Matthew Simpson, 12, proudly wore a black-and-white balloon hat near the multistory treehouse while up from Branson, Mo., visiting friends for the weekend.
“The bubble thing,” he said when asked his favorite display.
The bubble exhibit is on the third floor and features a platform on which a person stands. The platform is atop a container of liquid soap, and by bending down to lift a plastic ring, one can envelop themselves in a full-size bubble.
Simpson’s friend Matthew Fields, 7, wore paint on his face and said “the tree house” was his favorite, while dozens of children swarmed about the floor with another three hours left to play that afternoon.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
