Children's museum picking up steam through fundraising

Talking to Colleen Bennett and Shara Owensby at the future Charles M. Fulenwider Children’s Museum, one would think Willy Wonka just set up his chocolate factory on West Union Street and opened the doors to the public, no golden tickets needed.

The president and vice president excitedly met to discuss the future of the children’s museum, formerly referred to as the Thinkatorium before a group in Texas snatched the federal trademark on the name.

The interactive learning space is slated to fill the building that used to be home to Belk department store and is currently across the street from Morganton Federal Savings & Loan.

“The Fulenwiders will be graciously gifting the building to us when we finally get it up and running,” Bennett said. “It was Mr. Fulenwider’s dream to have a children’s museum here as a legacy, for not only his family, but the other families in Morganton. If you look at what children’s museums do to communities, it just changes them completely.”

The project picked up steam in the last few weeks after reaching and surpassing a $130,000 seed-funding goal by nearly $20,000. The initial idea was spurred in the late 2010s and hit roadblocks due to COVID-19 and Hurricane Helene but is now running full-speed ahead.

To celebrate, the museum held a “Champions for Children” fundraiser and ambassador event on March 5, inviting donors and community stakeholders to see where the initiative is headed.

“Seed money isn’t a pledge,” Bennett said. “Seed money is you don’t get it back. This is an investment. We don’t know what the return’s gonna be. So, the fact that we got 150,000 ‘we don’t knows’ — it’s a huge risk and it’s a big responsibility.”

The duo isn’t letting the pressure slow them down, though.

The $150,000 is paying for the architect, a capital campaign consultant, and will cover any other studies needed to get the ball rolling.

While the seed money has reignited the progress, the museum is still open to donors.

“If there’s someone out in the community that wants to help,” Bennett laughed, “there’s a lot of things that can be named in this building. There’s a whole inside!”

THE REMODELING

Haizlip Studio, the architect the project leaders met with before the museum’s original benefactor Charles Fulenwider passed away, will repurpose, resurface, and redevelop the 22,500 square feet into a space made exclusively for children.

“This block has been so sad for quite some time,” Bennett said. “It has such a rich history, and I feel like the fact that it’s being reused for something that will help greatly, and put us on the map, is incredible. Haizlip Studio, the top children’s museum architect. Reb Haizlip (the founder) actually came out of retirement to work specifically on this project.”

Last week, community leaders came and gave feedback on what they’d like to see. Then, the architects brought children in to give their input.

“What do they want to see? I mean, it’s their museum!” Bennett said.

While the plans are still in development, the overall experience will be hands-on discovery, aimed at children ages 2 to 11.

“That’s a work in progress,” Owensby said. “We are not sure what the final design will be, and the exhibits will be, at this point, but we are definitely bringing in lots of ideas.”

From tech areas downstairs to climbing structures in the main space to the goal of a connector to Martha’s Park, the dreams are big and the hopes are high.

“We’ve always seen some kind of slide coming from the top of the building going through the building and just really ‘Wow,’” Bennett said. “The goal is when you come through this thoroughfare, this is something that you see.”

HOW LONG BEFORE THE DOORS ACTUALLY OPEN?

Museum leaders say the opening is contingent on fundraising progress.

Owensby said, “We really can’t say that. We’re just at the beginning of planning stages for the design. Come back to us in maybe a year.”

“It really depends on how fast we raise the money,” Bennett weighed in, explaining that some enthusiastic donors could speed the process up quite a bit.

“The fact that the whole building is donated is legs up,” she said. “That’s the main component — this is already done. Now, we just have to overhaul it.”