13 Oct West Florida Historic Preservation, Inc.

Posted at 20:53h in 2024, Arts, Culture & History, Nonprofit, UWF Historic Trust by

West florida historic preservation, inc. dba uwf historic trust

OVERVIEW OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT

Access to museums at a young age creates lifelong learners and helps instill pride in one’s community. The Pensacola Children's Museum invites families to learn through play and seeks to update twelve-year-old exhibits and develop a more inclusive environment. The organization is pursuing three goals: to produce new first-floor “Our Town” interactive exhibits; to renovate a storage room into the “Calming Seas Sensory Space” for visitors who may require a different sensory experience; and to train staff to better assist visitors of differing sensory needs. The IMPACT 100 funds will be used for the fabrication and installation of new exhibits, to fund staff training and sensory certification, and to create sensory bags for guests to check out that include headphones, marble fidgets, noodle fidgets, mesh fidgets, strobe reduction glasses, weighted lap pad, visual cue card, and a VIP lanyard. Children will play through Pensacola's history in “Our Town” including Garden Street Toddler Spot, Milk Bottle Diner, L& N Train Station and Tiny Tot Train, Theo's House, Silas Stearns, My Story Magnetic Wall, Blue Angels Elevator and Calming Seas Sensory Space.

Pensacola Children's Museum: Our Town: A Space for All

Grant Year: 2024 | Focus Area: Arts, Culture & History| Amount: $100,670| Grant Status: Complete

Florida statute created the Historic Pensacola Preservation and Restoration Commission in 1967. In 1972, the Commission became the Historic Pensacola Preservation Board, operating under the Florida Department of State. In 2001, this organization was transferred to the University of West Florida, becoming West Florida Historic Preservation, Inc. (WFHPI). WFHPI is funded through a combination of earned income, donations, memberships, and grants and is also a direct support organization of UWF. In 2013, WFHPI rebranded into the University of West Florida Historic Trust. The mission of the UWF Historic Trust is to collect, preserve, interpret and share the history of Northwest Florida. The organization has been keeping Pensacola history alive for over 50 years and manages the Pensacola Children's Museum, the Pensacola Museum of History, the Pensacola Museum of Art, and the Historic Pensacola Village in downtown Pensacola, as well as the Arcadia Mill Archaeological Site and Homestead in Milton.

EXPECTED IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY

The Pensacola Children's Museum benefits the community by providing a safe, family-friendly space of informal learning through the lens of Pensacola history. The proposed project aims to inspire all children to explore their community from maritime history to train history to military history. The addition of a low sensory space will create one of the only publicly accessible sensory-friendly spaces in Northwest Florida. The Museum welcomed almost 33,000 visitors in 2023, with the majority from Northwest Florida, including Pensacola, Pace, Milton, Navarre, and Gulf Breeze. Of that total, 32% were children 3 to 14 years old and 18% were under the age of 3. As a tourist destination, the museum also welcomes visitors from across the United States providing an economic boost to the Pensacola economy. As Pensacola strives to be an Early Learning City, this project is another way to help us keep Pensacola history alive for the littlest citizens and to support the Museum’s mission of interpreting and sharing Pensacola's history.

Tags: