MANSFIELD – Laughter cascading through the top floor of the Buckeye Imagination Museum carried over the sounds of Pop-A-Shot, crashing magnetic cars and a game of virtual soccer on Tuesday night.
The top floor of the museum, located at 175 W. Third St. opened to the public on Wednesday morning after a private ribbon-cutting for donors and community leaders.
Fred Boll, executive director of Buckeye Imagination Museum, said this project was eight years in the making, before the museum moved to its new space.
“The mission of the museum has always been to empower families through the power of play,” he said. “All the research shows families that play together stay together.
“This was one of the big reasons we moved, because when your kids started getting older, people didn’t bring them to the museum as much. But now, you can bring your entire family and your entire family can play together.”
The Buckeye Imagination Museum’s first floor is targeted toward kids ages 2 to 10, while the top floor can now serve older children and adults.
We have a lot of games here where siblings or friends can have some friendly competition. So you really can’t age out of having fun here.”
Fred Boll, executive director of Buckeye Imagination Museum
Barrett Thomas, Buckeye Imagination board president, thanked the community for its support.
“You all helped us open a new museum last year, and we’re now opening the second floor,” he said. “I’m really proud to be a part of this organization and I’m really excited about this.”
The second floor includes skee ball, Pop-A-Shot, laser racing tunnels, classic arcade and pinball machines, an air hockey table, paper airplane launcher and many more interactive games.
County commissioner Cliff Mears said the new exhibit offers families another option for all-day fun in the county.
“When my wife Cheryl and I first moved here many years ago, the slogan coming into Mansfield was ‘the fun center of Ohio,’ ” Mears said. “I think we need to re-christen that because this space is really fun. It’s one more reason to come to Richland County.”
The six-person air hockey table and laser racing tunnels are the only features of their kind in the world.
Local companies designed exhibits
Boll said the museum staff were committed to spending money raised in the 2019-21 capital campaign in the local community.
“Of the $4.5 million we raised and spent, 96% was spent with companies in this county,” he said.
Adena Corporation built the air hockey table and other exhibits on the top floor.
Jim Constance, Adena Corporation cabinet shop supervisor, said it felt great to see people enjoying his team’s work.
“Our team really just loved being involved with this,” Constance said. “Using our imaginations and working with these guys to find out how we can create engaging activities was really fun.”
The joint capital campaign between the Renaissance Theatre and Buckeye Imagination Museum to create the Imagination District started under Mike Miller’s leadership.
Miller was the previous CEO of the Renaissance Theatre and now serves as the CEO of the Imagination District Alliance.
“I want to personally thank all of the donors, individuals and everyone that made this happen,” he said. “When Fred and I started this, it had really never been done before.
“But part of what nonprofits should do is help each other out. This has really been a fabulous project.”
The opening of the second floor comes one year after the museum opened in its new location at 175 W. Third St. next to the Renaissance Theatre.
The museum team also plans to host after-prom parties and 21+ nights.
The second floor will be open for the same hours as the first floor — 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday. It is also available for private bookings.
The museum is approximately 35,000 square feet, including the two exhibit floors and a basement. In total, this is more than four times the space the museum had at its previous West Fourth Street property.
Boll estimated the top floor includes 8,000 square feet of space.
Daily admission is $15 per person for non-members ages 2 and up. Membership packages, discount rates and birthday party rentals can be found online.
