Omaha Exploration

What would become Omaha Children’s Museum started in 1976 with a shoe box in the back of a station wagon. The mobile museum operated under the philosophy of “I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.”

The museum made its debut in the Old Market and traveled to 30 different locations including the W. Dale Clark Library and Crossroads Mall in order to reach as many children as possible. By the summer of 1978 the museum which found a home at the Omaha-Douglas Civic Center on 18th and Farnam had reached 40,000 children.

In 1989 the museum moved to the former Team One Ford dealership building at 500 S 20th Street. Built in the mid-1940s the curved wall structure was designed in a streamlined, moderne style. The move was intended to be temporary, allowing the museum to accommodate the large “Dinosaur Encounter” exhibit. It soon became obvious that the building should be its permanent home as it met all of its criteria which included a high visibility, downtown location with off-street parking and room for expansion. 

The move became permanent in 1990 thanks to Neely and Mary Kountze and Richard and Kathleen Jefferies who relinquished their equity in the property. The museum took over the existing mortgage. After raising more than $2.7M in donations, the museum was awarded $1.7M from the Peter Kiewit Foundation which helped it pay for and transform the building. 

The museum had four exhibits in its new home with a central area that allowed parents to watch their children as they moved through each one. In 1993 they completed the renovation of the first floor of the 60,000 sq foot space. In 2002 they completed the second floor renovation. Its size put it in the top 15% of the children’s museums in the world. They did a complete renovation of the permanent exhibits in 2007. In 2010 the Omaha Children’s Museum was named the Omaha Non-Profit of the Year by the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. In 2017 they set an attendance record with 324k visitors. 

It was recently announced that the museum will move to a new home at 8th and Douglas Streets across from the newly renovated Riverfront parks. The site is nestled between Heartland of America park with its skating ribbon on the south and the I-480 interstate bridge and the playground adjacent to the Kiewit Luminarium. 

The four story building will be connected to a 16-story structure that will have four floors of parking and 12 floors of parts on top. The new apartment complex by NuStyle Development will be called “The Beam”. The new location has the benefit of being surrounded by family-based features in the parks and luminarium as well as restaurants and other entertainment options. It also offers ease of access for pedestrians and cyclists and is located on the ORBT bus and streetcar routes. 

The museum will take concepts from other national peer museums and will include several exhibit spaces, a performance room, cafe and a play workshop. The new building will have more programming and be more inclusive in its offerings and access. It is expected that the cost will primarily be funded by private donations and would open in 2028.

Please feel free to comment to share your thoughts.

Until next time, keep exploring!

More pictures

Google Maps view of the site where the museum and apartment will be built. It is the dirt patch next to the I-480 on-ramp.

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