Children’s Museum Gets All Clear From State

The Great Lakes Children’s Museum could soon open again, Mike Long, its Executive Director, announced today.

Earlier this year the state instructed facility owner, the Discovery Center, to perform additional indoor air and soil vapor tests, Long explained.

“The required testing and results were sent to the state. Last Friday, the MDHHS-Michigan Department of Health and Human Services informed the Discovery Center the indoor air isn’t compromised. We now have a green light to re-open.”

For the museum, that means they have cleared at least one hurdle to reopen in the near future. “This is welcome news for our families, visitors and staff who have waited patiently the past few months”, said Long.  “There is still work to be done inside the facility due to Covid-19: defining social distance boundaries on displays, and setting up new processes for keeping high-touch items disinfected throughout the day – but we are close and will announce our opening date very soon.”

The museum will offer general admission days and single group days once an opening date is established. All guests, whether members or not, will need to make advance reservations through the museum website to aid in controlling the number of guests within the facility at any time.

The Discovery Center disclosed in July that despite clean indoor air sampling, earlier soil vapor tests under the museum building on the campus of the Great Lakes Discovery Center, had detected trace indications of contamination. The site has a history of commercial and light industrial use.

The Discovery Center, and its consultants, Otwell Mawby, a local environmental engineering firm, have been working with the state before determining when the museum could reopen.

“We’re excited for the Children’s Museum and eager for them to be back in operation” said Discovery Center CEO Matt McDonough, explaining its consultants had conducted all the additional testing and regularly reported results to the state over the past months.