DuPage Children's Museum finds temporary home at Fox Valley mall
DuPage Children's Museum has found a temporary new home at Westfield Fox Valley shopping center in Aurora.
The Naperville museum will turn a 3,000-square-foot store on the mall's second floor into a “bright and contemporary” space for kids while repairs are made to the building at 301 N. Washington St., which suffered water damage when a pipe burst Jan. 8.
Scott Samson, a DuPage Children's Museum member who is general manager of Westfield Fox Valley, gave museum officials the idea of using a vacant mall space and they took him up on it.
“We are proud to host DuPage Children's Museum at Fox Valley,” Samson said in a written statement. “We are thrilled to have such a high-quality, high-energy activity next to center court for our shoppers to enjoy with their families while they visit the mall.”
The new venue near Carson Pirie Scott will be called DCM@The Mall and it will host a grand opening at noon Friday, Feb. 6.
“This is an amazing collaborative partnership that we are so deeply grateful to have,” Sarah Orleans, president and CEO of the museum, said in a written statement. “This opportunity allows the museum to have an even stronger presence in the community during a very difficult time.”
The museum's mall space will be open seven days a week during about the same hours as the mall, which generally is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. It will be staffed by museum employees and volunteers.
The museum's original building is expected to be closed until April to fix what Orleans called “extensive water damage” on all three floors.
“The financial implications are significant,” she said.
Entrance to DCM@The Mall will be on a “pay-as-you-will” basis. Donations also can be made by calling Susan Stellmacher, director of development at (630) 637-8000, ext. 2400, or by visiting dupagechildrensmuseum.org and clicking the “shower us with your support” button.