Mark Hatfield is chasing a dream, one he hopes to share one day with you and your family.
Hatfield, 47, and his wife, Sheri, want to open a children’s museum somewhere locally, preferably Shelton.
It is an idea that has consumed Hatfield since 2011, when he and his wife took their son, A.J., now 5, to Kidcity, a children’s museum in Middletown.
“We went there, and each room had a different theme for children. We were just blown away by how great it was,” said Hatfield, a Huntington resident for just shy of 12 years.
But Middletown’s a hike from the Naugatuck Valley.
“We came home and my wife and I were discussing that we had to drive over an hour to get there,” he said.
Norwalk, home to the Stepping Stones Museum for Children, is a bit of a trek, too.
“We talked to some other parents and we all thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we had something like that here?’” he said.
What’s A Children’s Museum?
Children’s museums are places where kids play and learn at the same time.
It’s more than a playground or a collection of bounce houses. The interactive displays emphasize education, particularly early childhood development.
If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, click here for a good explanation from the Wikipedia Gods.
Connecticut is home to one of the nation’s oldest children’s museum — The Children’s Museum in West Hartford, which opened in 1927.
The number of children’s museums in and outside the U.S. has mushroomed, according to information from Jessica Hubbard, a spokesperson for the Association of Children’s Museums in Arlington, Va.
In 1975, there were 38. Today, there are about 400, visited by 31 million people a year.
Hubbard said her association is aware of 175 “emerging” museums. That is, museums that are in the planning stages, like Hatfield’s, which he plans to call “The Kidnectic Clubhouse,” a play on kinetic energy.
Opening a facility is anything but easy.
Children’s museums are in the “emerging” phase for about a decade before actually opening the doors to the public, according to Hubbard.
Non-Profit Green Light
Hatfield thought establishing one locally would be simple. He was wrong.
“At the time my wife and I said, ‘Let’s do it here. How hard could it possibly be?’” he said. “I was quite naive, at the time. Every day it’s been a new challenge.”
But there are plenty of success stories, such as the Everwonder Children’s Museum in Newtown, which opened at a small location and is now poised to open elsewhere in town (Fairfield Hills, possibly).
And the story behind those successes always starts the same — parents like Hatfield have a dream.
Story continues after this video tour of the Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norwalk.
At this point, Hatfield doesn’t have a location picked, a formal site plan, a fundraising goal, or a pile of money at his disposal. He’s a one-man show, essentially, and he is still working full-time as an independent graphic designer and illustrator.
But he cleared an important hurdle in July, when he was officially granted nonprofit status by the U.S. government. It was a 15-month process.
The status lends credibility to his cause — and limits personal financial liability, Hatfield said.
“The vast majority of these museums are nonprofit. I think it came down to our hesitance to search for a venture capitalist to back us, and for us to put our home on the line to try to do this,” he said.
Ninety-nine percent of the museums affiliated with the Association of Children’s Museums are registered nonprofits, meaning they are granted some federal tax relief because they are, essentially, learning institutions.
The museums rely on donations, often in the form of corporate grants, to survive. Newer institutions often team with daycares or schools for more revenue streams.
The cost for operating a facility runs the gambit.
“Unfortunately, I cannot offer any solid numbers on how much it costs to open one or even run one, since the range is huge,” Hubbard said in an e‑mail. “The budget of our children’s museums range from as little as $100,000 all the way up to $10 million.”
Next Step
Now that Hatfield has nonprofit status, his next step is to start talking to the public.
This month Hatfield has scheduled two forums to talk to people about his idea — and to recruit help.
The forums are scheduled for 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 15 and Wednesday, Sept. 17 at the Huntington Branch Library, 41 Church St.
To find out more about the project:
Click here for the Facebook page.
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