The Carroll Children’s Museum Board of Directors is requesting $10,000 from the Carroll County Board of Supervisors to support a soon-to-be-launched capital campaign for the non-profit to purchase its location in the Westgate Mall. According to Marcie Hircock, the museum’s co-executive director, they’ve been renting their spaces in the mall for the last two years, and purchasing the sites would remove a significant monthly expenditure from their budget.
The museum currently operates on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. The museum operates primarily on donations from the public and sponsors, and also has an $8 admission fee for children. Amy Schumacher, the museum’s other co-director, says they spend $1,800 per month on rent, and she believes those funds would be better used on expanded hours or new exhibits at the museum.
The board has set a fundraising goal of $400,000 for the museum’s capital campaign, but they don’t expect that to get fully underway until later this year. They wanted to approach the supervisors early in the process so they would have a good jumping-off point when speaking with donors. District 4 Supervisor Stephanie Hausman says it is too early for the supervisors to pledge funds from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget, but she believes this is an effort the supervisors could support.
The supervisors did not take action on the request during Monday’s meeting, but they indicated they would be willing to seriously consider it when FY27 budget preparations are underway. More information on the museum’s capital campaign and ways for people to support the effort are expected to be released in the coming months.
