Downtown Everett is becoming so cool it has masts on one very popular building and now a lighthouse on another building sure to attract a curious crowd.
It will be a long summer for kids — and some adults — who just can’t wait until September to check out the new digs for the Children’s Museum of Snohomish County. But if the outside of the brightly colored building is any indication, it will be well worth the wait.
A whopping $5 million in donations and grants, not to mention a score of volunteers, made this decade-long project come together. Those who live or work in the downtown area are familiar with the current home of the museum on Colby Ave. It is tough to miss with a mural of children painted on the front window. The new museum around the corner will be even easier to spot.
Everything indicates this is not some stuffy museum that will remind you of the drudgery of being dragged along whining and screaming on endless antique shopping trips with your parents. This is local history and culture in action. In other words, it’s fun.
Feel like flying? No problem, board a plane. How about chugging along on a train? Hop aboard. Or check out the model ferry and play with the water inside. If you haven’t figured out the whole transportation thing yet, don’t worry, neither have the grown-ups. Fortunately, you won’t get caught in any gridlock in this place. And if you do, you can just climb your way out of it on a horizontal climbing wall or a soft sandcastle.
If you’re not quite up to date on agricultural issues in the county, start off by checking out the barn with a life-size cow inside. Or get ready for your close-up in a minitheater.
And that’s just some of the fun that’s in store for youngsters.
Though housed in Everett, this is a county treasure and all the people and businesses who did so much to make it happen deserve praise and thanks from the rest of us. The children’s thanks will come in the form of awe and laughter.
But the best part? No one will put their face in yours and say, "Don’t touch anything!"
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