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51 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, April 5, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend March 15, 2004 Jasper Raynolds, 9, right and Kiri Bolles, 8, piece together geometrical shapes at a children's museum in Talent. A group wants a full-fledged kids' museum in the Rogue Valley by fall 2005. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Museum promises a space to learn and play Organizers of the Kids’ Imagination Discovery Station envision a fun place for children By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune Organizers of a proposed regional children’s museum six years in the making are planning to stimulate young minds by fall 2005. To rally support for the project, an exhibit of Kids’ Imagination Discovery Station will give the community a taste of things to come at the Rogue Valley Mall during spring break, Saturday through March 28. The temporary exhibit — and the Discovery Station when it opens — will feature special stations to challenge young minds and explore imagination through play areas, including a construction zone, deli diner (featuring everything from cooking to selling), an art activity area and a discovery zone for smaller children, including toddlers. The idea was started by museum board President Sharon Bolles, who said she realized the importance of such a facility as a parent trying to find educational experiences to offer her own children, ages 8 and 10. "I’ve got a restless mind," said Bolles. "When I had two children later in life, pushing them on the swings over and over again was kind of frustrating for me. Advertisement "When we started to travel I discovered these resources that most these other communities had. Not only were the children thoroughly engaged but the adults as well. I thought, hmm, I really want one of these in the Rogue Valley." Bolles said the group, Rogue Valley Family Discovery Center, has been awarded nonprofit status, and members have engulfed themselves in information on starting a children’s museum and visited 27 children’s museums and science centers around the Pacific Northwest. "We’ve been checking things out and spent a lot of time listening to what works and what doesn’t." Interim project manager Sue Densmore, a communications consultant in Medford, said while the region has a desperate need for such facilities, coordinators of the children’s museum backed away for a time to allow ScienceWorks in Ashland, which was initiated around the same time period, to see completion. Densmore said the children’s museum would complement other area attractions, including the Crater Rock Museum in Central Point, historical society museums in Jacksonville and Medford, as well as ScienceWorks in Ashland. Christy Hostetler, executive director for ScienceWorks, said the region can use as many of these kinds of centers as it can get. ScienceWorks, since opening more than a year ago, has seen rapid growth, serving more than 40,000 total visitors. The museum started with the doors open one day per week, and beginning March 24 the museum will be open Wednesdays through Sundays. "I think really we could use any number of experiences for families that provide a good, safe, stimulating environment for the whole family," said Hostetler. "ScienceWorks really focuses very much on science and very much on all ages. I’ve had really nice interactions with the Kids’ (Imagination Discovery Station) effort and really support what they’re doing. "We’re working together to ensure we don’t develop the same exhibit ideas. There a certainly plenty of examples of cities where there are a science museum and children’s museum, and both are successful." The new facility, anticipated to cost between $3.5 and $4 million, would be housed inside a 16,000-square-foot former fraternal lodge building in northwest Medford. For more information, visit the museum at kidsstation.org on the Web. Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. 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