Children’s Museum selects Centerra South for its museum

LOVELAND — The Children’s Museum of Northern Colorado has selected Centerra South as the location to build its new museum.

The Children’s Museum has been shopping for locations, with a site in east Loveland high on its list because of its central location for the museum’s service area.  

Ryan Howard, the Children’s Museum of Northern Colorado’s executive director, said the museum leadership has long hoped to locate the museum in a regionally central site. The museum has been in discussions with McWhinney Real Estate Services Inc., the developer of the 3,000‐acre master‐planned Centerra community in Loveland, since 2017. McWhinney’s plans for Centerra South, the proposed 140-acre development at Rocky Mountain Boulevard and U.S. Highway 34 in Loveland, are evolving, and Howard and the museum’s board of directors decided to locate in that development.

“We’re excited to have a location to build this much-needed museum, which is geared to children 10 and under,” Howard said in a written statement. “McWhinney will play an important role in moving our vision forward, and it is committed to our shared values and focus on creating inviting, educational and memorable spaces.”

Don Overcash, Loveland city councilor for Ward 4 and mayor pro tem, agreed that the location was appropriate. “Centerra South is a great location for this regional, community-serving museum. Its convenient access to I-25 and Loveland Sports Park, along with the planned mix of housing, shops and cafés, office spaces and a specialty organic grocer make the children’s museum a natural fit.” 

Howard said a Boston firm is designing the interior of the museum and exhibits and has received input from leaders and child advocates from across Northern Colorado. OZ Architecture is designing the exterior of the building.

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