TOPEKA (KSNT) – A learning and activities center for children in Topeka is set to close its doors to visitors near the end of October for over a week.
The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center announced that it will be closing from Oct. 28 through to Nov. 6. The ten-day closure is necessary for workers to put the finishing touches on the center and clean it up for a grand re-opening ceremony on Nov. 7.
Significant expansion work has been ongoing at the KCDC since 2024 when the over $11 million project was initially announced. Completion of the project will add new classroom spaces, child-care areas, galleries for traveling exhibits and bring the center from 15,000 to 30,000 square feet of space.
Workers got started on the expansion project in the late summer of 2024. The project is funded through a combination of corporate gifts, grants, the Gage Park Improvement Authority sales tax revenue, operating reserves and donations.
A grand re-opening ceremony is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 7 at 4400 SW 10th Ave. Visitors can expect to see the following improvements made to the KCDC:
- Three galleries with more than a dozen unique exhibits.
- The Sunflower Gallery.
- The Hall of Bright Ideas.
- The Special Exhibit Gallery.
- New indoor climbing structure which will be the tallest climbable sunflower in the world at two stories tall.
- The Discovery Cafe, which has health food options sourced from local and regional producers.
- Three new learning lab classrooms that will create space for quality science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) childcare. One classroom has a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen and hydroponics lab created for hands-on learning programs that connect nutrition, science and cooking.
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