London Children's Museum will break ground for new location in the new year

The head of London's Children's Museum expects construction to begin on their long-awaited new site in February, with an eventual grand opening in late 2024.

The update comes after the COVID-19 pandemic put the project on pause for the most part.

Kate Ledgley, the museum's executive director, says she's well aware the community has been patiently waiting.
"We're really excited that we are getting things moving again," she said. "Construction will start, hopefully, mid-February."

The children's museum unveiled its vision for what the new museum will look like back in 2018. At the time, they explained a California-based firm that specializes in museum design consulted with hundreds of local children and their families in order to get to know the region and design a museum specifically tailored to the community.

"It's really a representation of London. It has a forest. There's a stream water exhibit to represent the river. There's community and agriculture exhibits, [and] industry exhibits," said Ledgley.

Ledgley said some fan favourites are returning along with new attractions. Those include the dinosaur and space exhibits. Older exhibits could also be larger this time around, with new features added.

Still, the museum is appealing to the community for continued donations.

"It is a $19-million project and we've secured $13 million so far," said Ledgley. "So we are going to continue to source an additional $6 million, hopefully from grants and the community."

Ledgley said the children's museum is a charitable organization, and while they do have admission fees, donations allow them to keep their service accessible and prices as low as possible.

On Thursday, Shmuel Farhi, the landlord of the existing museum located at 21 Wharncliffe Rd. South, presented the Children's Museum with a $750,000 donation to help cover daily operational costs.

Ledgley added if there's one thing the community learned during the pandemic, it's the importance of the local institution.

"This pandemic really demonstrated even more how critical it is for children [to have] connection, development and growth. It is truly critical to their healthy growth and development, so we see the London Children's Museum as an essential part of this community."

Donations can be made to the children's museum on their website.