pwrtrip, as an adult I would rather the city do things for the kids than for myself. They are our future. As an adult I can find plenty of things to do besides going to the bars. there is the armory, the trails, movies, fishing, boating, etc. Your train of thought is very selfish and rather disturbing. To think of yourself before children, to me, is pretty shallow.

http://www.yurirashkin.com/

Mr. Rashkin has set up polls on his blog regarding the museum and it's funding.

Check it out.

Buy the GM plant and turn it into a museum of everything. Cars, kids, other things.. The plant is the oldest GM plant in the country...Maybe have part of it a display of an assembly line with old school cars on it? The place is big enough...no need to build a new building for a museum...and just for kids. What about the rest of us?? We are alive too.

I wonder if it would be illegal to socialize in the parking lot of this museum? Why not build something that will bring more to the community besides children? Janesville has nothing to offer adults except bars. Seriously what is there to do fun in janesville? I see these signs on the interstate that say "Wisconsin Fun This Exit"...someone show me where please.

"$648,000 a year to run the museum with a full-time staff of seven and revenues would come to $409,000." Isn't this just the way that government thinks? There is now way that anyone in the private sector would go for this, so why should our government? Right off the bat this thing is losing money. It just doesn't make sense.

I did send a piece of my mind to city council- again FIX WHAT WE HAVE< CLEan up and out the scum drug dealers , fix the parks- hey there is an idea take your kids to the park!!!!

" Kids can dress up like a doctor, firefighter..."

Perhaps they can dress up as auto workers and learn about unemployment :(

This has to be one of more "inane" ideas the council has come up with in a long time. Council should be thinking about saving money not spending it.

Everyone on here should do what I just did. I copied and pasted my comment into an email and emailed it to citycouncil@ci.janesville.wi.us, maybe if they get all our emails it might help a tiny bit!

I predict that J.P. Cullen & Sons and Westphal & Co. will get building contracts for the museum.

"The Audacity of a Children's Museum"

Of the 60 plus comments on this article, almost all are against the childrens museum. Read also today's article and comments.
The committee and the council will probably never read our comments. Contact the City Council and express your views.
citycouncil@ci.janesville.wi.us

just like everything else, once the private monies dry up the taxpayers are left to foot the bill!

Walker... The parents pay part and the PTO or PTA does fundraisers to pay for the rest. No cost to tax payers.

Question-

When school children are sent on field trips, who pays their admission costs? Do their parents send money with them or does the school pick up the tab?

It seems like the ones who dream up these crazy ways to spend money (that most people don't have), must be the mucky mucks of the city or something. I agree, use your wild imagination to figure out how to solve the city's crime rate and loss of job problems..
The city streets are in terrible shape and you are worried about a museum!!!

I had to shake my head and laugh when I read about this museum. How stupid!Don't these rich people out there have a charity to fund or something? Why must these idiodic ideas for building things Janesville can't afford keep coming up?A tunnel we don't need now a museum.

sarab okay. never sure how to take people on this site sometimes

I dont know about you all but I just got my propane contract for the next year and it is up over $400.00 more this season. No museum please unless you do alot of fundraisers and not add it to our taxes. I myself will be burning lots of wood this winter!

Hannah: I didn't mean any offense. I think I am trying to tell you that you're OK in my book.

This statement here points out exactly why we don’t need and can’t have a children’s museum.
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According to the consultants' report, it would cost approximately $648,000 a year to run the museum with a full-time staff of seven. Annual attendance would be about 51,670 and revenues would come to $409,000 with an admission of $6 per person.
The additional $238,000 needed each year would have to come from grants, endowments, donations and a city contribution of $75,000 to $125,000.
------
We are thinking about a museum that will be roughly $238,000 in the hole each year and --assuming-- that people will donate, city will supplement, or grants will cover this shortfall. I don’t think I’ve heard of a more moronic idea in my lifetime. We can’t get people to visit or aide the Tallman house, Rotary Gardens doesn’t get enough funding, and we are facing economic uncertainties. When enough donations come in to cover the seven million to build it and the museum has enough estimated attendance to fund itself, then maybe we should consider. However, I’m guessing that won’t happen, so it’s time to move on to something a bit less pie in the sky.

Spending 7 million on a museum that will be a novelty for maybe one year then it too will lose visitors as the Tallman House has. If you charge to get in, how are the "poor kids" supposed to get in? I have 8 grandkids and would rather take a 30 minute trip to Madison to enjoy a full day of entertainment at a minimal cost. I could go on forever about all the other things in Janesville that need to be addressed instead of a museum, but I won't. Hope they reconsider this museum and put the money to better uses.

villajanesville said it best!

"At least it won't require a large parking lot.... Thirty days after the grand opening, after the novelty wears off, noone will bother with it anymore. It's not as though people are going to bring their families from far and away just to touch a racoon hide, or look at arrowheads, or touch a Van DeGraff generator (that static electricity thing that makes your hair stand on end)
They should erect a brand new multi-million dollar structure within sight of the ECHO building, so people that have kids with names like "Cody" and "Regan" can explain why all those people are carrying brown paper bags filled with lima beans, rice, and generic peanut butter to the bus station."

Wait. Don't we need to build the tunnel first and then the museum?
Both ridiculous ideas for this community which is in a financial crisis.

Here are the poll results from last November.
should Janesville have a childrens museum?
Yes 38% 146 votes
No 61% 233 votes
The steering committee didn't listen then and probably are not listening now. They made up their minds that they "NEED" a childrens museum whether or not the citizens of Janesville "want" one.
Hey committee members - why don't you folks post your comments on this forum?

i agree with all that say no more taxes. we have stated before we cant fund the things we have and mow the lawn or plow the snow or the Tallman house upkeep. why dont you take your kids here ?? THis is a musuem of how things were long ago. I have also noticed all these poeple that want these new things have A LOT of money and can afford it. SOme of us cannot with this crappy economy. I am in sales and it has never been so bad. my income is about 1/2 compared to what it was in the past. sorry 4600 pr.yr in taxes for a dumpy druggie neighbor hood is CRAP!! I would contest it but I am afraid they would say that wasnt enough.

sarah b why is that so funny? cant i agree with you sometimes?

Last fall this story on the museum.

http://www.gazettextra.com/news/2007/nov...

Back then the potential museum was "essential to our quality of life.”
Since then several thousand people in this area have lost their jobs or are going to loose them. I think quality of life means something different now, this year, for many of us. A museum is not high on the list.

Members of the Janesville Museum, Inc., steering committee:
(All who have nice jobs)
Cheryl Peterson, M&I Bank, co-chairperson.
Terri Miland, Johnson Bank, co-chairperson.
Ron Ochs, M&I Bank.
Heather Walz, Boys & Girls Club of Janesville.
Benjamin Bryant, Alliant Energy.
Anne Lutz, Alliant Energy.
Mark Cullen, J.P. Cullen & Sons.
John Westphal, Westphal & Co.
Steve Sheiffer, Janesville city manager.
Doug Venable, Janesville economic development director.
Alexis Kuklenski, Janesville associate planner.

DJ's orig. comment: haha! I love it.
bennetof1: I'd love to know what exactly a "childrens museum" is as well.

Mr. Primer: I'm going to have to ask you too calm down.

Anyhoo I most def. think that the city needs to pay more attention to its current museum, the Tallman House.
Then, after they take care of that, and get all there other stuff in order, consider building a "childrens museum", Whatever that may be.
Untill then I think we should just put the idea right by the water park to rival noahs ark, the skate park that will keep our hoodlums off the streets,
and that bike tunnel thats going to save lifes 24/7.

Perhaps the city should look into spending some of its apparently limitless funds into calling Ms Cleo too see which one would pan out to be the best investment in the future...

Hannah: LOL! Now you're cracking me up!

Let's keep spending those tax dollars, and then wonder why our taxes are so high! This is stupid!

friendofchildren - if you think a "place like this will be great", then you can help pay for it out of your pocket.
Just don't expect the taxpayers to pay for your kids 'playplace'.

This is a lot of money, it's true--especially when the headline hits you right in the face. The thing to think about is that it's another attraction to bring people into Janesville. Kids will come from all over the area for fun, educational field trips that tie into classroom curriculum. Giving our kids educational connections outside the classroom is what makes kids remember what they've learned. More opportunities we can give kids to learn outside the classroom equals better learning, better test scores, better kids. Having a local place like this will be great.

I think we could save ALOT of tax money,by just getting rid of this commitee that thinks up all this dumm crap for janesburg. I just can't imagine how much time & the bill the tax payer gets each year for these things their thinking up to do in janesville. The things they have had on their agenda's for ever it seems,are not NEEDS,they are a very select few WANTS. By polling the citizens of janesville their needs & wants,high on the lists would be,lowering taxes,crime & violence,not things that maybe 5% of the people would use. Now IS NOT the time for spending,this IS a citizen speaking,can you hear me LAW MAKERS???????

Stop making sense.

OK, one more time...what is a "children's museum"?
What some of you folks have stated as the purpose of the "children's museum" being proposed is NOT a museum, it's a kid's play place / learning place / entertainment place.

Webster's says:
"mu·se·um: an institution devoted to the procurement, care, study, and display of objects of lasting interest or value; also : a place where objects are exhibited."

I used to live in La Crosse where they have a children's museum. It costs $8 per adult and $4 her child and it was fun the first hour but once we found everything my children were bored. I always thought a museum in janesville would be a fun idea but only if it was free like our parks and operated by volunteers who accept donations. The people who enjoy it and use it can help pay to keep it open. The people who don't use it don't have to . Like Madison's free zoo. RIGHT NOW IS NOT THE TIME to SPEND MILLIONS! We NEED a plan for our city's future, our children have plenty of places to play and if we want to educate them we can drive to a really big city like Chicago and actually enjoy the ARTS and CULTURE

fix the schools first. focus on JSOL and rotary gardens, our parks, our streets, let's bring back a roller rink instead of an overpriced playground

While I appreciate people wanting to make Janesville a more enjoyable place to live, I think the closing of GM (and the suppliers) is a unique situation that must be taken into account when considering these tax funded projects. I firmly believe Janesville will come out of the GM closing O.K., but it will only happen with governmental fiscal conservatism over the next few years.

sarah B- i agree!!

I haven't heard anything like that, woody. It wouldn't hurt to pay attention to the bidding processes, though. I'm not sure if it's fair to say that they all "want to build so much". I just can't understand their logic behind building these things now, of all times. They never seem to have to explain themselves or the motivation behind their votes, either. I hope people raise these questions around election time.

What if the city would stop spending money on new stuff and just maintain what we have. They could then lower taxes that in turn would put more money in our pockets. Then the parents would have more money to enjoy their kids with. Has anyone heard of the city managers and council getting kickbacks when the give a building contract out? That would explain why they want to build so much.

Hey, blackhawk. My "kid" gets tons of interactive play. We use these little places called "parks" that our city seems to have an overabundance of. He also interacts at these things called "schools", these things that are meant to help educate and prepare the upcoming generation of Americans, but somehow have been underfunded and lost in this mess of so-called "needs" These so-called needs I'm referring to are tunnels, skateparks, and museums. We also interact with other children in the neighborhood when we have the chance. And guess what? We do all of this "interacting" without a Children's Museum!!! A childrens museum would be nice. But let's be real here. I take my son to the Children's museum in Madison about two times a year. He gets bored of it after a couple hours. Just how much use is the one in Janesville going to get? Your kids will get sick of it after going two or three times. Those of you who say it will "boost the tourism" to our city need to think about the fact that Madison is only 35 minutes away, and it has a lot more to offer. Zoos, State Street, Memorial Union, etc. Going the extra distance is going to be worth the trip to many.

Wow. A children's museum in Janesville, one that will cost between five and seven million dollars, no less. Great idea. Maybe they could have an exhibit showing what Janesville was like when people actually could afford to live here. Before things like tunnels, skateparks, and children's museums became "needs" instead of "wants". I'm not trying to offend anyone here, but I'm amazed the steering committee didn't have the sense to wait on this project for a couple of years to see what shape Janesville will be in. Again, I'm not trying to offend anyone. These projects are always done with the communities best interest at heart, but I think that priorities are easily forgotten in our society.

$5 to $7 Million dollars would pay for a whole lot of car trips or school field trips to other places. And, that's not counting the $6.00 admission fees at this museum.

A children's museum is place where kids can go to learn through interactive play. Kids can dress up like a doctor, firefighter, learn about recycling, science, theater and so much more. Many kids go to museums on school field trips...this would be much cheaper for schools than driving to Rockford, Madison. I love this idea. We need to have more non-sports related activities.

http://www.bbcmkids.org/
Here is a link the the Betty Brinn Children's Museum in Milwaukee. It is a place where kids and do hands-on activities while learning about things. They have lots of "areas" where they learn about a topic, like a grocery store area, a farm area, a bug area, a fire station, a puppet theater area, etc. They had a auto garage area at Betty Brinn with a fake car and tools and auto parts that they can put on/in. They usually have costumes to go with each area. Hope that helps!

I think they should take this money and build a nice skatepark, but if they insist on throwing the money away, spend it on trying to keep GM.
And if they do go ahead with it, make sure it is build downtown by the poor kids. Remember this was the reason to move the skatepark out of Palmer Park, you know, so it would be closer to the poorer kids.

I don't know what a "Children's Museum" is either, but according to the article, it's a place that will suck up "Between $5 million and $7 million of public and private funds". Those who will benefit will be the developer, the staff, and the steering committee, and probably not too many parents and children.

Excuse me but, WHAT IS A CHILDRENS MUSEUM?

I have two young children, but I do not support this project either. We have taken our kids to the Children's museums in Madison, Milwaukee, and Rockford. They are fun for a day and something different to do, but in general it is out of date, non-working displays that obviously don't get the attention they need due to lack of funds.

I agree with Janesvillean and JD1965. I usually support projects like this, but it seems too expensive for the benefits it might bring. I think it is a great idea to discuss and hope that a large sponsor might step in and pay for it, but not the taxpayers. I have actually been to four different Children's Museums and I think they are a great activity for families with young children, but it doesn't seem to be the right time/place/price for Janesville.

This is a stupid idea.
DrTalk - I agree completely with you - "Any city council member who approves of this museum and wants tax payers to pay for it will not be getting my vote."

BennetonF1 asked - "What is a "Childrens museum"?"
If it's like any other museum, it will display really old, unusual "children". I'm pretty old and unusual...maybe they want to display me??? No way!

While I generally am in favor of projects that will advance our quality of life here, this one doesn't have my support right now. There are so many other problems we need to address in Janesville, and $5 million is just to steep for a project with too many question marks. To think what we could do with that many in terms of buying up dilapidated property along our main corridors and beautifying and revitalizing the city in that way, I just can't see throwing money at a museum with a $6 admission fee that still would fall way short of being self sufficient.

I am pretty consistently a cheerleader for creative and visionary ideas for revitalizing Janesville, but this really sounds to me like a solution looking for a problem. That is, it isn't a grassroots movement to make a children's museum formed by people who believe in the project, it's a "something for downtown" proposed with hopes that it will be popular and develop a constituency.
.
It is quite true that the record of support given by the city and county to the historical society is an indicator of how those entities view those as attractions and as cultural responsibilities. This record really speaks for itself.

Dr., If it is 100% privately funded it does not need your approval.

This is a great idea which deserves community support. It will draw people to Janesville, increasing tourism dollars and promoting business growth. Sure, it should not be 100% publicly funded, but a public-private partnership should be considered. This Museum will promote business growth which will in turn create jobs and increase tax revenues, having a very positive effect on the local economy.

It would have to be 100% privately funded for me to approve it. Any city council member who approves of this museum and wants tax payers to pay for it will not be getting my vote.

They should put it between the skate park and the water park.

HERE WE GO AGAIN; Don't have the monies to take care of what we neeeeed to just survive in this city,SPEND SPEND SPEND,these YAHOO'S on the hill,just don't get it! They are just going to have too stay away from those Madison spend crazy idiots!! When i get those hate blog's back,saying it won't cost the tax payers one penny,these same people will pay a dollar for a bottle of water,and make themselfs beleave it wasn't bottled with city water,with a twist of lime,wake up!!

I think this is a fantastic idea and Janesville would benefit greatly from the family perspective but also the revitalization perspective. We are in such need for more wonderful family friendly places to bring our children! There are also many downtowns that have seen a very positive impact from a good quality museum and with the work that this group has done this will be exactly that.

WAIT A MINUTE---- first of all, we supposedly do not have enough money to repair the Tallman House. Now we publically fund a NEW museum??? Where are our priorities???

"The additional $238,000 needed each year would have to come from grants, endowments, donations and a city contribution of $75,000 to $125,000."

And what happens if the grants, endowments and donations aren't enough?

As much as Janesville desperately needs more culture, I don't see this panning out.

It's also a bad time, financially, for a lot of people and businesses.

What is a "Childrens museum"?

Although I support a childrens museum,this is not the time to have a tax payer funded museum. Our childrens school services are being cut and the city is looking at a new waste water treatment center. We can not afford to have this put on the tax payers at this time.
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I would however think that a fundraiser would be a great idea for a jump start on this project. Then perhaps grant money could be found to help pay for the rest of it.
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It is just not the right time to keep speending money on wants and not needs as another blogger stated on a different blog. Let's just make the best of what we have now and keep the spending at a minimum.

I go with Option No. 3: Economic uncertainty makes this a bad time to promise public funds to any project.

Yes, a museum is nice and we all know Janesville needs more culture. But we taxpayers should not be paying for it now. I think the museum folks are crazy to think they can get the funds-both public and private right now. This is a bad time!!

I would love to see this happen and would be happy to support this as well - GREAT IDEA!

I agree, Janesville needs this. It will provide a positive outlet for our children and will help bring new business and development to the area. Great work Janesville Museum Inc!

Well worth every penny. I would love to see this happen.