WATCH: El Paso Children’s Museum and Science Center named “La Nube”

EL PASO, Texas – Students at AOY Elementary helped unveil the new name for the El Paso Children's Museum and Science center. The center will take on a Spanish name "La Nube" (The Cloud).

The museum's design reveal and groundbreaking was held in Oct. of 2020.

The four-story, 70,000-square-foot museum is being built at 201 W. Main, behind the El Paso Museum of Art and on the west side of the Mills Plaza Parking Garage.

The name was chosen following the “Name the Museum Challenge”. 

Officials said two different people submitted the same name and each will receive a lifetime membership to the museum. 

Over 600 suggestions were submitted by members of the El Paso community. 

La Nube translates to “the Cloud” in Spanish; it refers to the design of the building under construction in downtown. 

La Nube will open to the public in 2023. Officials say it will be an experience for the entire family- not just children. 

The museum will help children experience what it is like to be weather forecasters and a veterinarian. It will also come equipped with tools to help guests record music and videos to publish on social media. Additionally, there will be a section where kids can play with water.

The project was approved by voters back in 2012 as part of the Quality of Life Bond. La Nube officials said the project will cost up to 60 million dollars. 

The executive director of the museum, Barry Van Deman, said “It's about imagination, the shape of imagination. The future of this city and the borderland region resides in children. Children in this environment are going to learn, keep their curiosity alive, their sense of wonder alive and use their imagination.”

Eric Pearson, the president and CEO of the El Paso Community Foundation, said that this museum is unlike any other. 

“These kids will be able to come to this place and try things, take risks, work together and do things over again. They will learn to grow and succeed and they will be with their families and be able to do something that is unique. There is no museum like it in the whole world,” Pearson said. 

Pearson said they have run into delays because of supply chain issues, but construction continues. 

Mayor of El Paso, Oscar Leeser, said it will be a place for everyone. 

“It's a museum for all ages and you can go in there. If you bring a family of five, each one will have a different experience and let their imagination look and see what they want,” he said. 

Leeser said he looks forward to seeing the smiles on the kids and everyone else.