Children’s Museum receives Trillium grant for community space
The London Children’s Museum is a step closer to welcoming children to its new location at 100 Kellogg Lane. The museum received a grant Thursday to help cover the cost of a new meeting space at its future site.
“Children need a sense of community, they need a sense of belonging, they need spaces that are tailored to how they learn and how they engage with the world around them,” said Kate Ledgley, executive director, London Children’s Museum.
The provincial government’s Ontario Trillium Foundation has announced $150,000 to go towards The Annex. It will be one of eight exhibit spaces at the museum. It’s described as a multi-purpose space to be used as an event venue for travelling exhibits, art installations, and community events.
“There’s been a renewed sense of the need for community spaces and the need to get people together again,” said Amelia Sloan, Ontario Trillium Foundation representative. “Together again enjoying each other, friends, community.”
London North Centre MPP Terence Kernaghan was also on hand for the announcement. He told the gathering that his first job was at the Children’s Museum.
The future London Children’s Museum at 100 Kellogg Lane in London, Ont. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)
He said he’s happy to see the new project flourishing.
“Great to see this vision coming together,” he said. “Something that was put on hold throughout the pandemic while materials costs went through the roof, but Londoners have really gotten behind this project.”
The Annex was designed with the input of more than 500 children and their families, according to Emily Schinbein, chair of the London Children’s Museum Board of Directors.
“I think they’re going to be wowed by this space,” she said. “If they’ve come to our old one they’ve had a great time, they’ve had wonderful experiences, learned through play, and then they come here it’s just going to blow their mind.”
The new museum comes with a price tag of $23 million. Museum officials say $19 million has been secured so far.
The museum is moving from its existing location on Wharncliffe Road, where it has been located since 1982.
Construction of the new space is expected to be complete by fall of 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Signs of Alzheimer’s were everywhere. Then his brain improved
Blood biomarkers of telltale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of his patient, 55-year-old entrepreneur Simon Nicholls, had all but disappeared in a mere 14 months.
Flammable kids' sleepwear, salmonella-contaminated chips: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued recalls for various items this week, including kids' bassinets, chips, and stoves. Here's what to watch out for.
Lyon-bound Air Canada Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from Montreal turns back midflight due to pressurization alert
Passengers heading from Montreal to Lyon, France on Friday were forced to return home and depart the next day after a pressurization indication was detected in flight.
Sentencing trial set to begin for Florida man who executed 5 women at a bank in 2019
Zephen Xaver walked into a central Florida bank in 2019, fatally shot five women and then called police to tell them what he did. Now 12 jurors will decide whether the 27-year-old former prison guard trainee is sentenced to death or life without parole.
'How do you get hypothermia in a prison?' Records show hospitalizations among Virginia inmates
The Virginia State Police investigator seemed puzzled about what the inmate was describing: "unbearable" conditions at a prison so cold that toilet water would freeze over and inmates were repeatedly treated for hypothermia.
The secret Italian lakes that most tourists don't know about
Italy has dozens of secret smaller lakes that boast superb scenery, unknown to mass tourism, where locals get together on day trips and enjoy picnics.
Oilers dominate Canucks, win to force deciding Game 7
The Edmonton Oilers avoided elimination from the NHL playoffs Saturday night, beating the visiting Vancouver Canucks 5-1 in Game 6 of their second-round series.
Economists to have a close eye on April inflation report as BoC rate decision nears
Forecasters expect this week's inflation report to show Canada's inflation rate fell last month, but financial markets are still unsure whether a June interest rate cut is in the cards for the Bank of Canada.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange facing pivotal moment in long fight to stay out of U.S. court
The host of a news conference about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's extradition fight wryly welcomed journalists last week to the "millionth" press briefing on his court case