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Families who come to town to play are also likely to eat at restaurants, shop and maybe spend the night in a hotel. That’s a revenue inflow that benefits local business and brings in local dollars through things like room taxes.

And many families looking to move to a community — buying a home and making other local investments — consider amenities like children’s museums.

The potential economic impact is a key reason the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation recently awarded a $250,000 community development investment grant to help the Children’s Museum of Eau Claire expand on a new site, that includes a preschool and child development center. WEDC also recently granted $250,00 to a new STEM (science, technology, engineering andmathematics) focused children’s museum in Wausau.

While admittedly dated, there’s still credence to a study by the Association of Children’s Museums, that showed children’s museum generated $5.5 billion in economic activity nationwide in 2016.

Now, it’s Janesville’s turn.

In March, the Children’s Museum of Rock County kicked off a capital campaign to open a museum in the former First National Bank building at 100 W. Milwaukee St. Plans would preserve the historic part of the bank building while razing the portion above what were drive-thru lanes for a Chase Bank branch that’s sat shuttered since 2016.

Forward Foundation, the charitable arm of Forward Janesville, purchased the site from Blackhawk Community Credit Union in 2020. The Children’s Museum of Rock County is now under contract to acquire a portion of the former bank property.

Envisioned is an up-to-25,000-square-foot children’s museum with galleries with interactive exhibits, large play spaces, multifunctional rooms for birthday parties and meetings, exterior play spaces, a rooftop activity space, a gift shop, a coffee shop, offices for museum staff, and on-site parking.

We look forward to this new place to play, particularly if its offerings are a culturally relevant reflection of our community’s diversity and it’s accessible and welcoming to all families.

The current cost estimate to open — including running a capital campaign, design and construction— is $8 million. More than $2.5 million of that had already been raised in a “quiet” campaign phase as of March.

Get behind the children’s museum. It would build on the private and public investment Janesville has already made in its downtown, which is once again a place community members want to shop, eat and gather. Businesses across the city could see a positive impact. And it would be a selling point for new families to move here.

This is a project that deserves all of our support.