A popular children’s museum based in Chapel Hill is setting its sights higher, aligning the early stages of a major expansion with a rebranding.
The Kidzu Children’s Museum is officially now the North Carolina Children’s Museum, as announced Friday with its opening of a new makerspace in Boxyard RTP in the Research Triangle Park. After being forced to scale back its operations in the wake of a water main break and flooding of its Chapel Hill space last year, the museum is ramping up efforts to design and build its new permanent home on Mt. Carmel Church Road.
Kidzu, which has operated in town since 2006, has always sought a permanent space for its “cradle to career” programming and philosophy of learning. According to its website, the board of directors for the nonprofit rededicated its search in 2015 for a bigger, permanent space after moving to University Place mall. And similar to that long-standing effort, Chief Executive Officer Jamie DeMent Holcomb says the museum has long had a broader vision for the children and families the museum could help educate…