Exploreum children’s museum closing its doors permanently Dec. 30

Exploreum, called a “living laboratory” by its organizers, will be closing permanently on Dec. 30, 2015.

The museum was developed by the same group behind the Lynx Exhibits but Exploreum was a non-profit, meaning it could donate its exhibits to the City once the City’s children’s museum is built.

Exploreum has an old west village, aviation exhibit, and a high tech room with an interactive floor.

“Rather than rotate exhibits every four months, we maintain the same exhibits and add more cool stuff every 2-4 months. We reside in 14,000 square feet and offer more than 60 interactive exhibits,” Exploreum says on its website.

Exploreum officials released the following statement on its Facebook page Tuesday morning.

Without further comment.

El Paso Exploreum Children’s Museum Closing Dec. 30, 2015

The El Paso Exploreum Children’s Museum will close its doors at the end of the year.

With annual attendance reaching 40,000, memberships more than 1,100 and summer camps and programs earning widespread praise, the non-profit Children’s Museum has been a gift to the El Paso community since January 2013. El Paso Exploreum was built on the success of its predecessor, Lynx Exhibits, which during its seven-year tenure brought 18 nationally touring exhibits to the El Paso area for the first time.

Closing The Exploreum was a difficult decision, but the museum can no longer cover all annual operating costs, according to its board. Attempts to secure adequate city, community, foundation and corporate support have failed. As the city continually postponed plans for the Quality-of-Life bond issue projects that include a new children’s museum, the Exploreum, always intended to be a stop-gap museum until the City could build its own children’s museum, was left without a way to execute a planned exit strategy developed 10 years ago. That strategy entailed partnering with the city in a public-private venture in which the city would assume at least $200,000 in annual operating costs, hiring a nationally recognized executive director and supplementing the board with major founders.

Despite the closing, the museum founders and supporters will devote considerable expertise and potential funding to the future city children’s museum through an informal committee that began meeting earlier this month.

“We created Lynx Exhibits as the predecessor for a children’s museum that we would donate to the city,” said co-founder Laurie Paternoster. “Our intention was to create a foundation for the city to build upon. However, the city’s planned children’s museum has been pushed so far into the future, it is not economically feasible to continue operating the Exploreum indefinitely. We have done so to date at a significant personal sacrifice, with no financial support from the city and a bare minimum from the community.”

While El Paso has a Science Center, the Exploreum is the city’s only children’s museum, catering to children ages 12 and younger. It has more than 60 interactive exhibits and is guided by one of the few children’s boards in the country.

“We want to thank all of our sponsors, members, volunteers and visitors, especially area school districts, who have supported our mission throughout the years,” said Paternoster. “It has been most rewarding to see children, parents and teachers have fun while learning in the educational environment we have created.”

The founders also expressed thanks to City Representatives Lily Limon and Claudia Ordaz, and their dedicated Exploreum board members, some of whom have been involved since the project began in 2006. The decision to close was made after a meeting with members of the board and the youth Explorers advisory board on October 12.

Paternoster and Churchman have personally invested more than $6 million into the museum and property at 300 W. San Antonio, across from the convention center. The entire city block has been listed for sale at $7.9 million.

“We are deeply disappointed that we had to make this decision.” said Churchman. “We tried for 10 years to give this gift to our community. To lose the momentum we have built in just the last three years, and to now wait 10 or more years to get the replacement children’s museum, is a real waste.”

The El Paso Exploreum will close its doors December 30, 2015.