A proposal for a children’s museum in downtown Wilton is moving forward with the launch of an ambitious capital campaign with an aggressive fundraising schedule.
Organizers hope to raise $750,000 by the start of next year.
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Museum donations
Donation options for community members who want to support Western Maine Play Museum can email the museum at westernmaineplay@gmail.com. or go to Facebook, www.facebook.com/WesternMaine
PlayMuseum or www.westernmaineplay.org
Board members of the Western Maine Play Museum, which was first conceptualized last July, hope to start building the children’s play museum in a donated Main Street building by June 2015. The building’s closing was in April.
The 13-member museum board had raised about $5,000 before the capital campaign’s official launch June 1, and have a steep climb before getting to the final goal.
“This is one of the largest capital campaigns in this area,” said board president Angela McLeod. “This summer is critical for us. To stay on time line for being open in 2015, we need to have major donors.”
McLeod said she is optimistic because of the way the community has come together so far for the museum. The volunteer board is made of 13 members of the community, their downtown building was donated, a local contractor Upright Frameworks has volunteered to do the renovations at cost, and most recently, a Foster Technology Center student Levi Meader envisioning the logo for the project.
“I think when you have an exciting vision that people want to be a part of it,” said McLeod, a social worker with VA Maine Healthcare System-Togus. “It’s such a positive, bold idea for the community. I think people are really drawn to positive projects that they know are going to benefit kids.”
Work on the project began nearly a year ago.
Volunteers say the vision of the museum emerged after hearing other children museum’s stories and researching.
McLeod said they wanted to have all the board members in agreement about their vision for the project before they got into the nuts and bolts of the renovations and design.
She said the project can be tricky because the staff has experience with children, but not with the specifics of starting a museum.
“There’s no template. There’s no recipe for making a children’s museum,” she said.
The capital campaign for the museum breaks down into three categories: $500,000 to renovate the building to a commercial standard, $200,000 for exhibits and furnishings and $50,000 for a green space.
Along with straight donations, the museum board is offering naming rights and sponsorship for the different themed rooms, as well as engraved bricks in the courtyard that would be built.
Museum staff will not go ahead with the project unless they first raise the money needed, said McLeod, so the biggest hurdle is getting large donors on board.
“We cannot start if we do not have the funds for the project.
We’re not willing to risk money on a project we can’t complete,” she said.
Along with launching a capital campaign, the Western Maine Play Museum recently launched its new website, slogan and logo.
The contest to design the logo was sponsored by County Seat Realty, and the winning designer, junior Levi Meader, was awarded $100 for his efforts. The original design concept was then given to a professional designer who completed the logo.
The museum’s website was created by a board member, Chris Bennett, associate professor of computer science at the University of Maine Farmington, and then finished by a design committee member, Joni James.
The website includes details about their board members, a complete layout of the interior with specifics on each room’s expected contents and information about how to donate.
The time line for the project is self-imposed, McLeod said, because she said the board thinks an end goal will keep the community motivated and driven.
“We’re hoping our timing is just right. The recession is ending and people seem eager to be investing in communities again,” she said.
Kaitlin Schroeder — 861-9252
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