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49 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, May 9, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 9, 2005 Sunny Spicer and her husband, Paul Schneider, do some preparation work inside the former Medford Moose Lodge. A hands-on children�s museum is scheduled to open there June 17. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli KIDS readies new digs The Kids’ Imagination Discovery Station moves into the former Moose Lodge and prepares for a summer preview By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune Organizers of a children’s museum seven years in the making are gearing up for a summer preview. Kids’ Imagination Discovery Station (KIDS) took possession of its new and permanent digs, the 16,000-square-foot Medford Moose Lodge, at North Ross Lane and West McAndrews Road on May 1. KIDS spokeswoman Sunny Spicer said organizers made an agreement more than 2½ years ago to purchase the building for $2 million. They recently mustered a down payment, allowing the group to move in. KIDS hopes to be open June 17 through mid-September, giving area families a glimpse of what the regional center would provide. Hours will be determined based on available volunteers. Summer memberships, June through mid-September, will be available for $35. "Our prime goal right now is to motivate the community and let them know that they can help create a resource that will not only result in smarter children and happier families, but add a much-needed attraction for visiting families," said Spicer. Advertisement Plans for the facility debuted last spring as part of a temporary exhibit at the Rogue Valley Mall. The idea was founded when museum board President Sharon Bolles rallied a board of community members in the late 1990s. This summer’s event will give a nod to the children’s story "Stone Soup" based on the concept "that we can build this resource using what is available in our community," Spicer said. Exhibits on hand in the beginning, Spicer said, should whet the community’s appetite with hands-on learning exhibits similar to those found at regional facilities such as OMSI — the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry — in Portland. Different from the science-related offerings at Ashland’s ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum, initial exhibits in Medford are expected to include a mini-hospital, auto shop, deli diner, construction zone, art activity area, an orchard full of wooden fruit (ripe for the picking) and a discovery zone for toddlers and younger visitors. All told, exhibits will appeal to kids 10 and under. In the "dream phase," KIDS could have exhibits such as a recording studio and computer lab to attract older kids and teens, and outdoor play areas, including a restored wetland attraction and water play space. Julie Petretto, executive vice-president of the Medford Visitors and Convention Bureau, said the museum would do a nice job of rounding out offerings for families in the Rogue Valley. "We’re just totally thrilled that it’s finally coming to fruition because it’s something that the city of Medford really needs," Petretto said. "It’s good for the local residents as well as an attraction for our area. ... This really rounds things out." To date, Spicer said the group had raised almost a half-million dollars toward its $4 million goal to cover the property’s purchase and operating expenses. Recently, KIDS was awarded $5,000 from the Carpenter Foundation, which, in addition a generous number of private donations, Spicer said would put the museum in a position to apply for additional grants. Spicer said "work parties" will continue through opening day June 17. Anyone interested in pitching in or getting more information can contact Spicer at 779-9576. Or visit discoveryspace.org on the Web. Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected] Moose Lodge building was too big for shrinking membership Built in 1993, the Medford Moose Lodge was offered to coordinators of the KIDS museum more than two years ago when it became apparent that the 16,000-square-foot lodge was too big for a shrinking membership. Moose spokesman Tom Lavin said expenses had been going up as steadily as membership had declined. When the lodge was built, Lavin said, membership was around 1,700. The lodge’s current membership of 585 made its official move to a smaller venue in Gold Hill, at 9713 Old Stage Road, on Friday. "It was for the best of everything," Lavin said. "It’s going to a good use. We’ll miss the old building but what we won’t miss is the expense of the old building." The lodge’s new home base is about a third the size of the old one, Lavin said, and "out in the country" on four acres. "We just downsized," Lavin added. "Other than that we’re healthy and fine. That old building was just too big for us and too expensive to keep going." Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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