The dream still lives. Tri-Cities narrows funding gap for children’s museum

The future of a possible children’s museum looks brighter than it did a month ago.

Hands In for Hands On saw more people at its Trivial Pursuit 50-State Adventure exhibit, and several donations narrowed a $18,000 funding gap to a more manageable amount, President Stephanie Button said.

She said Hi-Ho board members were able to loan the nonprofit organization the money to keep it from shutting down or selling its small number of exhibits.

“We’re still looking for that miracle,” Button said.

While the exhibit will be in place until Jan. 12, the organization needed to pay the Milwaukee-based Betty Brin Children’s Museum by Friday, Button said.

Hi-Ho also received promises for a few more donations once the new year starts, Button said, adding that she believes the organization will be able to pay its board members back.

“I personally would like to make my board members whole again,” Button said. “There are some that really struggled to get this money together.”

A Goodwill donation drive saw a lot of people drop off items, but the donated cash hasn’t filtered back to the organization yet.

Hi-Ho’s founders started the children’s museum effort because they were fed up with going to Spokane or Seattle to find a science-focused museum for kids.

While the Tri-Cities has a planetarium and The Reach, neither lets kids fully interact with exhibits to learn science. That led to former Hi-Ho President Lara Hastings recruiting educators, scientists and parents to work on opening a discovery center.

Hi-Ho brought “A View from Space” to Columbia Basin College and Amusement Park Science to the Gesa Carousel of Dreams last winter.

Button said both exhibits were popular during their limited runs.

Then Hi-Ho rented the more expensive Trivial Pursuit exhibit last year, confident that there was enough support in the community, Button said.

People liked it, but Button said its out-of-the-way location — the East Benton County Historical Museum on Keewaydin Drive — might have hurt attendance.

Button said reports about the organization’s troubles also brought more people to see the exhibit, which takes people through a series of displays about each state.

Visitors can ride a mule in the Grand Canyon, guide a sled dog team on the Iditarod Trail and climb Mount Rainier.

The exhibit will reopen on Jan. 2, with a noon to 4 p.m. and then from noon to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

People can contact the museum at 509-582-7704 for more information.