Meridian Children’s Museum underway
MERIDIAN – The Mississippi Children's Museum (MCM) broke ground on its first satellite campus on Monday here. Construction is underway on the Mississippi Children's Museum - Meridian (MCM-Meridian) which is located on 22nd Avenue and will include a 25,000 square foot state of the art facility featuring 9,500 square feet of exhibit and an additional 25,000 square foot outdoor exhibit experience designed for Mississippi's youngest residents as well as their entire circle of influence. Leaders from the community, government officials, MCM-Meridian and MCM representatives, and most importantly, local children, used their shovels to break ground and share in this momentous occasion.
The eight-acre location on 22nd Avenue for the new museum was selected as the perfect site to welcome visitors along the gateway to downtown Meridian. "We are thrilled to be moving forward with what began as a dream for our community. When completed, we will have a world-class museum for our children and future generations of children in East Mississippi," stated MCM-Meridian Executive Director, Liz Wilson.
MCM-Meridian has received significant financial backing from the community, including the signature sponsors: The Phil Hardin Foundation and The Riley Foundation. The combined $7 million support from these respected community leaders helped launch the project, which has gathered much momentum since its start in 2015.
MCM's leadership has used the expertise and experience gained from building the flagship museum in Jackson ten years ago to work in consort with the local leadership to bring together top exhibit designers, architects, engineers, contractors, and landscape architects to arrive at the final plans for construction.
MCM-Meridian is expected to open in early 2021; and upon opening, is planning to see over 51,000 visitors a year with a roughly $9 million-dollar economic effect on the community from a combination of direct spending as calculated by Dr. Alan Barefield of Mississippi State University and an investment in early education as researched by the White House. The museum will also create roughly 160 jobs during construction and approximately 25 full-time equivalent museum staff positions. As the construction and operations phases of the museum move forward, fundraising for this project is ongoing; to give, please visit www.mcmmeridian.org.