Education Expansion

Children’s Museum Tucson Gets Record $1 Million Grant from Angel Charity for Children Education Center

By Tara Kirkpatrick

Housed in a historic Carnegie Library building, the Children’s Museum Tucson has been a downtown staple for youth discovery, education and fun for 30-plus years.

Thanks to Angel Charity for Children, it’s about to impact even more kids.

In its largest single grant to date, the organization devoted to improving the quality of life for Pima County children has committed $1 million to the museum to create a new education center with additional program space and expanded access for children from Title I schools.

“Our members were really behind this mission,” said Kellie Terhune Neely, the group’s 2024 general chair. “This center will be adding three additional program spaces, and it will serve children through a variety of programs. So, they’ll have field trips, after-school activities, art programs, and it’s going to increase accessibility for an additional 40,000 kids in the first year alone.”

Children’s Museum Tucson was founded in 1986 as the Southwest Children’s Exploratory Center in a small space on Pennington Street. It moved to the Historic Y on University Boulevard before finding a permanent home in the 1901-built Carnegie Library in 1991.  Its mission from the start has been hands-on, play-based learning for kids. The museum also has an Oro    Valley branch. 

The museum purchased the adjacent Scott Avenue Building in 2023, which most recently housed the Udall Foundation. The $1 million grant will aid the building’s renovation for the new Angel Charity for Children Education Center. Construction is already underway and should be completed by 2025. 

“Everything about this project is exciting,” said Hilary Van Alsburg, the museum’s executive director. “We have been at a pinch point at the museum in our ability to grow for many years, and we have actually had to turn people away. Because of the historic nature of that building, we are limited in that footprint.”

“So, we knew that if we wanted to be able to stay downtown, we would have to do something nearby. To be able to stay when things are getting so exciting and so much investment is going on, we are very lucky and very excited to be part of that.”

The project adds 13,000 square feet to the museum. In addition to the Angel Charity for Children Education Center, the museum’s administrative offices will relocate to the new building. Swaim Associates Architects and Sundt Construction are contractors on the project.

“The biggest part of the Children’s Museum mission is making sure that this is the museum for all children, not just those who can get there, and making sure that once they’re there, it’s an accessible space,” said Van Alsburg. “So, we’re making all kinds of accessibility improvements in this new building.” 

Angel Charity 2024 Vice Chair Dawn Darling praised Van Alsburg and her team for its meticulous preparation amid the grant process. “They knocked our socks off,” she said. “A lot of worthy projects come forth to us, but they’re just not ready. But they answered every question that was asked of them at charity selection and in the general membership voting meeting. That’s an intimidating process, and they killed it.”

Darling added that the Tucson community, which Angel Charity depends on for fundraising, has embraced the museum as a grant recipient. “So many people’s lives in Tucson have been touched by the Children’s Museum,” she said. “Everybody has had some sort of impact that has been positive.”

The museum was the previous recipient of a $236,500 grant from Angel Charity in 2011, which helped create an investigation station. “They’ve been a wonderful partner,” Terhune Neely said. 

The new Angel Charity for Children Education Center is just part of a $15 million, five-phase expansion project for which the museum is raising funds. It includes a future Science Park, updating the existing exhibits and adding a new entrance, café and shop to the Carnegie building. 

Pictured above from left – Tana Lopez, 2024 Capital Campaign/Underwriting, Angel Charity for Children; Hilary Van Alsburg, Executive Director, Children’s Museum Tucson; Kellie Terhune Neely, 2024 General Chair, Angel Charity for Children. Photo by Brent G. Mathis