Children’s museum in La Habra plans $1.5 million immersive theater

The Children’s Museum at La Habra wants to take its visitors on a journey around the world, from Yosemite National Park to the Serengeti, and the city is providing $400,000 to help make it happen.

The plan: An immersive theater that would be the first of its kind in a children’s museum in the country, with footage splashed on the walls, floors and 12 screens hanging from the ceiling.

Along with the city contribution recently approved by the City Council, the nonprofit Friends of the Children’s Museum has raised about $500,000 toward the $1.5 million cost.

“There are a lot of families who have never visited Yosemite,” the museum’s director, Lovely Qureshi, said. Through the theater, “they can experience it on a grand scale.”

The 5,000-square-foot addition would be built just north of the existing museum, although the exact location has yet to be finalized.

The idea for the theater came from Kent Roberts, a Friends board member, who saw a similar concept in France.

“Where else can you go to have that opportunity?” Roberts asked the City Council at its June 3 meeting. “The answer is no place in the U.S. right now that’s associated with a children’s museum.”

 

Such a theater would offer the museum flexibility for maximum educational benefit, Roberts said. “One click of a computer and another program appears. You just hit that little button.”

The potential for drawing more crowds could also help the museum in its fundraising for a proposed $2.5 million modernization of its existing buildings, some of which date back to 1923, said Director of Community Services Kelly Fujio. “We have a very loyal following at the museum itself right now, but having a new theater may spur some more interest.”

And, the facility can easily be used for other purposes such as corporate events or different exhibits, which would provide a “safety net” for the city and museum, Fujio said.

City leaders will look for sources other than the city’s operating budget to fund its $400,000 pledge, while the Friends group still needs to raise more than $600,000.

“We’re trying to fast-track this,” Qureshi said. “It’s not a long-term plan.”