After almost fifteen years in Skagit County and nearly ten years at Cascade Mall, the Children’s Museum of Skagit County is moving to a new home. With the direction of the Cascade Mall still taking shape, the mall owners advised that the Children’s Museum should begin the search for a new home. That new home has been found at The Outlet Shoppes at Burlington.

“In order to protect the interests of the museum, the Cascade Mall owners generously gave us time to plan our future location,” said Children’s Museum Executive Director Cate Anderson. “During our search, we were approached by the owner of The Outlet Shoppes at Burlington to see if there was mutual interest in joining forces, and we are so pleased to announce this upcoming move. We’re grateful to the Cascade Mall for the decade of support, and to The Outlet Shoppes for ensuring that the Children’s Museum of Skagit County can continue to be a vibrant resource for children, teens, adults and educators.”

“Shopping is the number 1 activity for tourists in the U.S.” said Gary Skoien, CEO of Horizon Group Properties, owner and manager of The Outlet Shoppes at Burlington. “So it made all the sense in the world to us to bring a first class children’s museum to our center so that our guests can experience the wonders of the museum and museum visitors can include shopping our center as part of their overall experience. We look forward to partnering with The Children’s Museum in promoting the Skagit Valley area as a tourist destination.”

A new home
Construction will begin shortly on the new 12,250 square foot space at The Outlet Shoppes at Burlington, which will be larger than the current 11,000 square foot museum space. The museum will open in two phases, as construction is underway, and will open fully in early 2019. There will be exciting new exhibits when the daily operation opens at The Outlet Shoppes at Burlington, after Phase I of construction is completed.

The Museum directorship, staff, volunteers and supporters are excited to be able to plan the new space in a meaningful way to continue growing their programs and events. Enhanced exhibits and learning opportunities, improved spaces for STEAM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) to encourage critical thinking skills, imagination, creativity and social-emotional development are all part of those plans. In addition, the Museum’s successful preschool program will have a larger classroom space. The museum’s scholarship program will continue to serve the needs of children and families, and their partnership with more than 35 organizations and institutions will continue to flourish in this new space.

“Bigger. Better. Brighter. Relocation Campaign” has begun
In anticipation of this move, the Children’s Museum of Skagit County is immediately launching its “Bigger. Better. Brighter. Relocation Campaign,” which is necessary to fund the costs of the new museum build out and relocation costs. A series of public events is planned for August 23-25th at the new facilities, details will be forthcoming. Donations to this campaign can be made to the Children’s Museum of Skagit County or directly to their donation account at any Skagit Bank branch in the region.