The Kinzua Area Discovery Center has taken a major first step with the signing of papers to purchase land for the children’s museum at 4115 Market St., the site of the former Red Maple Inn.

Eventually, the site will be transformed into an immersive indoor adventure where nature and imagination meet, with plans including an enchanted forest, winding river and animals. The center is being planned as an area to promote imagination, creativity, self-expression and family togetherness with playful learning, exploration, and engagement at every turn.

It sounds great, and it’s encouraging to see the concept go from discussions amongst a few people to purchasing land. The purchase, carried out by the Jefferson DeFrees Family Center, means we’re past the point of just talking about a new children’s activity.

“There is no projected opening date yet,” Johnson said, “but we do have exhibit concepts and potential building designs. However, we’ll need to raise a significant amount of money to make this dream a reality.”

The purchase is exciting – but now comes the hard part. It will take time to raise the type of money necessary to build the Kinzua Area Discovery Center, and that type of fundraising tends to take time.

Kudos to Melinda Johnson, Jennifer Madigan and Kim Slocum for reaching this point. We and the rest of the community look forward to seeing the next steps of this project.