Macon Children's Museum closing. (Atlanta, Columbus: 2014, apartments, loft)

[Columbuskidd92]

MACON, GA. — The Georgia Children's Museum in downtown Macon is closing.

The museum's executive director, Mary Cay McCullough, said the museum will close at the end of this week.

The Telegraph reports that the museum opened in 2005, and has been part of recent revitalization efforts in Macon's downtown area.

The museum's operators had sold the building housing the museum to a developer about a year ago, and loft apartments are being built. Museum officials had planned to continue the museum on the ground floor, but announced this week that it will close instead.

McCullough said the museum doesn't have the funding or the support "to expand the exhibits the way we need to to keep things fresh and new."

MACON, Ga.: Macon Children's Museum closing | State | Columbus Ledger Enquirer

[midgeorgiaman]

This whole mess with the "museum district" downtown has been a debacle. Basically a bunch of old Macon dreamers had this "build it and they will come " idea. So we got the GA Music Hall of Fame, the GA sports hall of fame, the Tubman AfAm, and the Children's Museum...

The only one that was somewhat interesting to me was the Music Hall and the state pulled funding for that and the Sports Hall a few years ago. The Music Hall closed, the Sports Hall is now on local subsidies, the Tubman got SPLOST money through holding the new animal shelter hostage even though the local board couldnt raise a penny in a majority black city for it which foreshadows its lack of popularity as well. The children's museum was a nice thought, but without local schoolchildren going there on field trips, it was doomed as well.

The thing planners fail to understand about museums is that successful ones have to be living. By that I mean costantly changing and bringing in new exhibits. The museums here are boring. Nobody ever really returned to the music hall because it was the same year after year. I dont care about GA high school sports and coaching legends so that one is a waste. Dont even get me started on the Tubman. I will never go back to that one after the stunt they pulled with the SPLOST...I am ill with that one and hope for their demise so that never happens again.

I know that most cultural entities in a city are somewhat publically funded and I support that as it makes your city a better place to live, but the entities need to be good and change often. Macon's are/were neither as far as the museums go. Second, the csa population is 400,000...not enough to support this many museums without tourism which is negligible compared to other cities such as Atlanta and Savannah.

The museums were doomed from the start because those in charge didn't understand today's museum culture. A bunch of artifacts laying around isn't going to cut it because repeat visitors keep museums going and they want touring exhibits such as Bodies not the same thing they saw last time. Macon isnt big enough to support that.

The Sports Hall needs to be reincarnated as something more useful and the Tubman needs to go away too. Unfortunately, those trying to hold onto this image of Macon as a museum town will dump many more millions into these failing ventures. Know when to hold em, know when to fold em...it's time to fold em!