More than a decade in the making, The Knock Knock Children’s Museum opened its doors to the public this morning and is offering free admission until 5 p.m this evening.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, First Lady Donna Edwards, Mayor Sharon Weston Broome and former Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden gathered with children, volunteers, and other stakeholders to commemorate the long-awaited museum’s grand opening.
“Today is a result of big dreams and hard work from the small committee that first began this project, to the donors across our state who understand that these types of facilities make an incredible difference in the way our children learn, play and develop,” says Carolyn McKnight, BREC superintendent.
The Knock Knock Children’s Museum sits on six acres of park land in the City-Brooks Community Park on Dalrymple Drive near LSU and interstate 10. Interactive and hands-on, the 26,000-square-foot Knock Knock Children’s Museum features 18 themed learning zones designed to create teachable moments for children and promote literacy, the arts, science, technology, engineering and math.
The museum’s board members raised nearly $14 million to construct the facility—an idea conceived by local moms more than a decade ago. The museum is “game-changing,” said Board Chair Aza Bowlin, who noted the impact it would have on the community.
“The legacy of Knock Knock Children’s Museum is that it truly is a community project for all children of our community, built by our community,” she says.
City-Brooks Community Park was selected to be the site for the museum because of its accessibility from the interstate, which positions it to draw for the local community, the surrounding nine-parish region and traveling families passing through Louisiana.
The museum will be open Tuesday through Sunday, with daily admission being $14. Children under 1 will be admitted free.
