A Historic Moment in a Historic Building:
Bronx Children's Museum is Moving In!
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Flowing lines and curved spaces highlight Bronx Children’s Museum's newly completed home designed by architects O’Neill McVoy in NYC Parks’ former Power House. Photo: Dooley Images |
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Bronx, N.Y. December 1, 2021 – The Executive Director of Bronx Children’s Museum, Carla Precht, enthusiastically announced, “Construction has ended on our long-awaited Museum facility in this gorgeous, city-owned, historic building called the Power House. We can’t thank the City and State enough. We are proud to accept this key from NYC Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff and NYC Department of Design and Construction Commissioner Thomas Foley to mark this historic and joyous occasion! We are ecstatic!”
“We are beyond grateful to the City and excited that we can now move into our building,” said Board President Hope Harley. “Over 15 years ago, I was stunned when I, along with other community members and leaders, learned that the Bronx was the only New York City borough without a children’s museum. A few of us banded together and envisioned a 21st-century children’s museum that would offer our children the opportunity to learn and explore and develop a true sense of themselves. And just as importantly, to learn about, and take pride in, the Bronx.
“For more than ten years, we have provided a museum experience without walls to over 115,000 children and have become a trusted enrichment resource. In mid-2022, we will finally add to that experience when we open our museum with walls, dramatically increasing our reach. Thanks to the capital support of the City and State and to NYC Parks in particular for providing the children’s museum with a license to occupy the Power House.”
“Collectively,” Precht said, “the Bronx Borough President, City Council and Mayor’s Office allocated $16.2M in capital funds towards the construction of the Power House. In addition, the State Assembly allocated $4M for a total of $20.2M to make our dream a reality. We could not have come this far in the last 13 years without the steady and dogged dedication of all of our partners, including the children themselves, and especially our elected officials and the City and State.”
In addition to the capital funding raised, the Museum received $500,000 from the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation for exhibits and nearly $4 million in private funds from Ford Foundation, The Louis and Anne Abrons Foundation, Rafael Collado, Con Edison and the Frederick P. & Sandra P. Rose Foundation.
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THE SPACE
Precht states, “Our building, known as the Power House, originally provided refrigeration for the Bronx Terminal Market where food for the entire city was stored before being transported throughout the five boroughs at the turn of the century. Now it will celebrate and activate the power of children. With four turrets, it looks like a castle and is located just south of Yankee Stadium, along the Harlem River. It is now classified as a historic site with LEED certification and currently houses offices on the first floor for NYC Parks, as well as Stadium Tennis Center facilities. Children and their caregivers will also be able to visit and explore Mill Pond Park, where the building is located, as an extension of the Museum. The public opening of our Museum space is now clearly in sight in 2022.
“Even without our exhibits (to be installed by February) the interior spatially and poetically depicts our overall theme: Water Connects Us All,” Precht continued. “O’Neill McVoy understood just what we envisioned from the beginning – a combination of a fine arts museum space and a children’s museum that emulates a natural landscape with all its beauty, twists and turns, surprises and diversity. The children of the Bronx only deserve the best and we think we have achieved just that: an unforgettable, beautiful space they will be proud of and will enjoy for years to come.”
“We designed the spaces uniquely for a child’s perspective, with curving geometry of flow drawn from nature,” remarked architect Beth O’Neill of O’Neill McVoy. “The materials include the first in the U.S. of curved, renewable, sustainably-harvested cross-laminated timber.”
At the end of the ceremony, Ms. Precht made the surprising announcement that Rafael Collado, a Bronxite and long-time supporter of the Museum, just pledged $250,000 toward the Museum’s exhibits and reserve fund. “It is so beneficial to engage, inspire and encourage children at a young age,” said Collado. “This is what Bronx Children’s Museum offers to the 200,000 young children of the Bronx. It gives me great pleasure to support this grand initiative.”
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Executive Carla Precht says the space is "a combination of a fine arts museum space and a children’s museum that emulates a natural landscape with all its beauty, twists, turns, surprises and diversity."
Above: Bronx Children’s Museum's newly completed space designed by architects O’Neill McVoy in NYC Parks’ former Power House. Photo: Dooley Images
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THE COMMEMORATIVE KEY CEREMONY |
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Bronx Children's Museum's (BxCM) Executive Director Carla Precht along with Board President Hope Harley accept a ceremonial key to the Museum's newly completed space in NYC Parks' former Power House from NYC Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff and NYC Department of Design and Construction Acting Commissioner Thomas Foley joined by City and State officials and BxCM Board Members. Photo: Keyz2Life Media.
L to R: BxCM Board Member Stan Green, NYC Council Member Raphael Salamanca, BxCM Board Member Paul Lipson, NYC Department of Education Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter, BxCM Board Member Joel Kassan, NYC Department of Design and Construction Acting Commissioner Thomas Foley, NYC City Councilmember-elect Marjorie Velazquez, NYC Parks Bronx Commissioner Iris Rodrigues-Rosa, BxCM Board Member Jillian Fauls, NYC Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff, NYC City Councilmember-Elect Althea Stevens, NYS Senator José M. Serrano, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Gonzalo Casals, NYC Council Member/Bronx Borough President-Elect Vanessa Gibson, Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr., BxCM Board Member Arlene Bascom, NYS Assemblymember Kenny Burgos, BxCM Executive Director Carla Precht, BxCM Board Member April Horton, BxCM Board President Hope Harley, BxCM Board Member Kate Green, Actor/Writer and Museum advocate Sonia Manzano.
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The Commemorative Key Ceremony symbolically marked the handing over of the keys from the City by NYC Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff and NYC Department of Design and Construction Acting Commissioner Thomas Foley to Board President Hope Harley and Founding Executive Director Carla Precht.
Speakers included New York City Councilmember Vanessa Gibson, BxCM Board President Hope Harley, Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr., Sonia Manzano (formerly “Maria” from Sesame Street) who has supported the museum for more than 17 years, New York State Assemblymember José M. Serrano, NYC Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Gonzalo Casals, NYC Department of Design and Construction Acting Commissioner Thomas Foley, NYC Department of Education Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter and BxCM Executive Director Carla Precht.
At the end of the ceremony, elected officials and guests toured the newly renovated space designed by O’Neill McVoy and the NYC Department of Design and Construction with Bronx Children’s Museum.
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TESTIMONIALS
NYC Councilmember and Bronx Borough President-Elect Vanessa L. Gibson
“Today is another step towards ensuring that our Bronx children will have their very own Museum — one that allows them the unique opportunity to dream big, express themselves and aspire to be whatever they want to be. Today we celebrate the culmination of hard work and tenacious focus towards opening the doors of the first-ever Children’s Museum in the Bronx. I am so proud to be a big champion for our children and their greatest potential through this monumental project. I am grateful for the incredible commitment and partnership of all our stakeholders, elected officials, public and private partners, the deeply involved and supportive Board of Directors, Board Chair Hope Harley and our relentless Executive Director, Carla Precht, for their tireless efforts, and their steadfast belief in the mission and vision of Bronx Children’s Museum. Today is a great day for the Bronx and the future of our children.”
Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz, Jr.
“The Bronx Children’s Museum facility was one of the first capital projects I supported when I was elected the Borough President and now, at the end of my term, I am ecstatic to see construction is completed. This milestone is a monumental step forward for children and for our borough and I am proud to have been a catalyst, having allocated close to $3.7M in funding to this project. With all the job creation and success stories in the Bronx, we finally have an amenity where children and their parents will be able to regularly come to have fun, learn, create and bond for years to come.”
Sonia Manzano (formerly “Maria” of Sesame Street)
“I have been involved with the Museum for more than a decade. I was raised in the South Bronx and so I am well aware of the need for a museum to serve the children of that community. There are close to a quarter of a million children under the age of nine living in the Bronx, and almost half of those children are living under the poverty level, making the need for a museum vital. I want to thank the City for giving the museum a home after being mobile for 13 years. Today is an important step in making this dream a reality.
Assemblymember Latoya Joyner
“For the first time in the history of the Bronx we have our own Children’s Museum and it is an addition to our community that will engage local families while inspiring young minds. With the completion of the Museum’s construction we are marking an important milestone in the history of the Bronx and I want to thank Speaker Carl E. Heastie for his support in obtaining the $4 million in state funds that have helped make this day possible. Bringing this investment to my community has been a priority of mine and will expand educational opportunities in my community and throughout the Bronx for generations to come.”
New York City Councilmember Diana Ayala
“For over a decade the Museum has brought their engaging programming and special events highlighting the arts, culture, science, and the natural resources of the Bronx to schools, public housing, hospitals and community-based organizations to children in my district. I can’t wait for its doors to open in 2022 and am proud to have been a major supporter. I also applaud Parks for offering the museum the Power House as their home and to DDC for developing such a beautiful space.”
NYC Parks Commissioner Gabrielle Fialkoff
“We are thrilled to partner with Bronx Children’s Museum and welcome them into their new home, helping to build educational equity in the Bronx. We share the vision of bringing children and their families closer to nature through education and exploration, and with this new space, the Museum will engage and inspire Bronxites of all ages for decades to come.”
NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Gonzalo Casals
“Connecting young New Yorkers with the arts is critical to their joy, growth, health, and wellbeing, and it’s even more urgently needed as we restore emotional and social bonds following the pandemic. That’s why we’re so proud to invest in the Bronx Children’s Museum’s new home in this historic building. Children in every corner of New York City deserve access to the amazing benefits of arts programming and with this incredible new home for the museum, children from the Bronx and beyond will have the opportunities they deserve.”
NYC Department of Design and Construction Acting Commissioner Thomas Foley
“We’re pleased to be working with our partners at NYC Parks and the Department of Cultural Affairs to finally bring a children’s museum to the Bronx. We believe the architects who designed the space with Bronx Children’s Museum, O’Neill McVoy, have done a wonderful job creating a space that is visually engaging, uniquely designed for a child’s perspective, contextually responsive to the community and timeless. Special thanks goes to Carlton Murray, the construction manager, and Devang Kapadia, Deputy Program Director and Irene Alpert, Program Director and many others at DDC.”
NYC Department of Education Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter
“Museums like Bronx Children’s Museum are invaluable resources for educators and caregivers and will be critical to providing the enrichment children need in the coming years. As I have said, ‘every child deserves to see themselves in the curriculum every day.’ Bronx Children’s Museum achieves this goal. The Museum has been extending its reach into the community and our schools for more than a decade with its mobile programming and iconic purple bus. By spring 2022 it will occupy this City-owned building in the South Bronx. I am so proud that the Bronx will finally have its own children’s museum facility, one that reflects the people, places, cultures and history of our community.”
Nicole Perrino, Founder of Bronxmama and advisor to the Museum since 2008
“The Bronx finally has a facility for children to learn, play and celebrate the vibrant cultures that make up this beautiful borough. It is so important for our youth to feel seen and celebrated— and I know that Bronx Children’s Museum is going to be a staple in their childhood. While the Bronx is home to two of the largest parks in New York City, I am happy to also have an indoor space kids from the Bronx can enjoy, while still learning about what’s right outside their front door.”
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ABOUT BRONX CHILDREN'S MUSEUM |
Founded in 2005, Bronx Children’s Museum (BxCM or Museum) is a new kind of multicultural, Bronx-inspired children’s museum operating “with and without walls” geared to those from infancy through fourth grade. To provide the Bronx’s children with an interactive place to learn and play, BxCM, with the City, is at the end of developing 13,000 square feet of space in a City-owned former powerhouse in the South Bronx.
Beginning in January 2022, the Museum will begin occupying its new home and move in FF&E, administrative offices and operations. Exhibits and art installations are scheduled to be complete by late Spring. After a two-month soft opening and test period, the first-ever children’s museum facility in the Bronx will open to the public—a dream more than 11 years in the making.
Until the time that COVID hit, BxCM was engaging 16,000 Bronx children and caregivers annually in hands-on arts and science (STEAM) experiences and programs throughout the borough at community-based organizations, schools, shelters, libraries, parks and festivals. Using a purple bus as a roving learning environment and its complementary suitcase exhibits and curriculum, the Museum visited 23 schools and was a key attraction at 85 fairs and festivals during the 2018-19 school year. The Museum also had six ongoing in-school and after-school programs and one summer arts enrichment program called Dream Big. In addition, BxCM offered two ongoing family arts programs specifically geared to residents living at Mitchel Houses in Mott Haven and organizations serving new immigrant populations.
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Press Contact
John Boudreau
Director of Marketing and Communications
john@bronxchildrensmuseum.org
914-582-2342
Bronx Children’s Museum
PO Box 1381
Bronx, NY 10451-9998
www.bronxchildrensmuseum.org
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