A popular, hands-on exhibit at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia is getting a makeover courtesy of The GIANT Co.
The Please Touch Museum — a children’s museum — has made its home in Fairmount Park’s Memorial Hall for more than four decades. One of its popular exhibits is the Healthy Me Market and Bistro, a fun space that gives kids a sense of what a food store is for and how vegetables and fruit make its way to the dinner table.
Even though Please Touch has been closed since March because of the coronavirus, administrators have been planning how to “redefine the future experience,” according to the museum’s website. It’s temporary closure has been extended into 2021, but good news is that current memberships have been frozen.
The redefining is now getting some help, because other good news came Thursday. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, museum administrators announced a $1.2 million grant from The Giant Co. that will help update the market.
The Inquirer also states, the gift also kicks off the $5 million campaign “Creating the Future of Play” designed to assist the museum, that has laid off most of its staff, through its reopening hopefully in early 2021.
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“The recent decision to remain closed into 2021 for public health was the right one but certainly, agonizing,” said Patricia D. Wellenbach, the museum’s president and chief executive. “As we made that difficult decision, we did so with confidence knowing that The Giant Co. shared our vision for ‘Creating the Future of Play,’ and wanted to take a leadership role in shaping it.”
The market is to get a whole new design and name. It hopes to promote modern topics, including healthy eating, the significance of food in family and cultural celebrations, and recycling, Wellenbach said.
According to the Inquirer, Giant representatives met with museum staff at the beginning of March. Construction for the new market is scheduled to begin in late 2020 with an expected opening in fall 2021.