Step by step, a vision is becoming
a reality.

2006

A group of Rochester parents, interested in providing fun, educational opportunities for local families, meets to discuss the need for a Children’s Museum of Rochester.

The Children’s Museum of Rochester (CMR) officially forms as a tax-exempt, non-profit organization with the purpose of researching and planning for the creation of a Children’s Museum that benefits children, parents, employers, and our community.
CMR’s Board of Directors expands to include a diverse list of community leaders, employers, and parents with backgrounds in education, business, finance, technology, law, communications, and marketing.
CMR’s volunteer database grows to more than 50 families.

In April, the Augsburg College MBA program completes a comprehensive study testing support for a Children’s Museum in Rochester. The study reveals overwhelming support for a museum, and projects the museum will draw more than 40,000 visitors annually from a 50-mile radius around Rochester.
In June, CMR’s Board of Directors implements a comprehensive business plan to guide the group’s efforts for the next 5 years. CMR’s goal is to secure a location by early Summer 2009, hire an Executive Director in Summer 2009 and open to the public in 2010.
In November, the CMR Board hires The Steier Group, a national development firm, to conduct a 6-week fundraising feasibility study. The study includes hundreds of mail and online surveys and dozens of personal interviews with potential CMR donors and stakeholders.
In December, The Steir Group delivers findings of the feasibility study to the CMR Board. The findings show:

Rochester parents are wildly enthusiastic and passionate about a possible children’s museum. More than 650 people responded to a mail or online survey about the museum. More than 80 percent of respondents said they were in favor of a museum, and more than half of respondents indicated they would make a monetary gift to get a Children’s Museum of Rochester up and running.
Top individual and business donors in the region also responded favorably to plans for a Children’s Museum in Rochester. Steier Group consultants conducted 61 personal interviews with potential top donors; 73 percent of those interviewees indicated they would make a monetary gift to the CMR.

Based on the positive results of the CMR fundraising feasibility study, the CMR Board of Directors votes to proceed with a capital campaign, estimated to begin in Summer of 2009 and contingent on the identification of an existing building in which to house the museum.

The CMR Board of Directors, with the guidance of local real estate experts, investigates several possible Rochester buildings in which to house the museum.

Leadership and volunteers collaborate with local architects to design exhibits and begin planning for a comprehensive capital campaign.
The search for an Executive Director begins.
The CMR's first official fundraising event, on March 22 at BB's Pizzaria, attracts hundreds of supporters and confirms the community's enthusiasm for the project. See our photos of this fun event.
The CMR unveils a traveling exhibit, an interactive playhouse for kids, dubbed "CMR Under Construction" at the Aldrich Memorial Nursery School Carnival on May 1. The CMR sets up the playhouse around town at community events throughout the summer. The interactive playhouse was built especially for CMR by Weis Builders, and it teaches kids about construction by giving them hands-on opportunities that include laying carpet or tiles, painting walls with water, using magnetized siding, and connecting circuits to make a doorbell ring.