The Magic House Children’s Exhibit at Airport Gets Full Funding

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is about to get a lot more kid friendly.

Officials from Lambert, The Magic House St. Louis Children’s Museum, and Rally Saint Louis announced that a 1,500-square-foot, hands-on children’s exhibit has received full funding and approvals to begin construction. This is a $150,000 project.  It will open in late May for the start of the busy summer travel season.

“We’re thrilled to welcome The Magic House’s unparalleled brand of engaging children’s exhibits to the Airport in the C Concourse,” said Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, Director of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. “This is just one more element that is helping to build upon the overall airport experience.”

“The Play Port” will feature a transportation hub of fun with climb-in and climb-out venues, including a plane, a train and multiple cars. The play area will also include a child-size air traffic control tower, car rental counters and an airport screening area.

“Traveling with young children can be challenging, and our goal is to create a fun and welcoming experience in St. Louis and convey what a wonderful place the metro area is for families,” said Beth Fitzgerald, President of The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum. “This has been a longtime dream to use The Magic House’s unique interactive play and learning concepts to welcome and entertain visitors to our airport.” 

City of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay applauded the idea, as well as the grassroots and corporate support the project received to make it a reality.

“We’re living in a new era of collaboration and innovation across St. Louis,” Mayor Slay said. “We’re all working to improve our City and region and to see projects coming to fruition through Rally Saint Louis is rewarding, to say the least.”

Major donors and supporters of this exhibit include Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Carr Lane Manufacturing Co., the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission, Bi-State Development Agency/Metro, Jane and Dave Peacock, as well as private donations generated through Rallystl.org.

After launching in November 2012, the first-of-its-kind platform allows consumers to submit, vote for, and help fund ideas that drive progress in greater St. Louis. Rally Saint Louis has served as a key player in generating and funding five projects, including The Magic House exhibit, across greater St. Louis, as well as:

• Food Roof: a first-of-its-kind community rooftop farm and education facility.
• Cotton Belt Exchange Mural: an artistic, 750-foot-wide mural on the Cotton Belt Exchange building along the Mississippi River in downtown near the new I-70 bridge.
• Project Blacktop: an urban basketball court for which the City of St. Louis and Rally Saint Louis are currently working to site.
• Sculpture Chair: a sculpted cube chair created by St. Louis artist Timothy Smith recently installed in The Grove neighborhood, bringing art to the community and a space for people to come together.

“Rally Saint Louis has continued to spark the imagination and civic pride of our fellow St. Louisans,” said Brian Cross, who co-founded Rally Saint Louis alongside partner Aaron Perlut. “Seeing great projects like this reach funding and become a reality for everyone in the region hopefully will inspire more people to get involved and create the next big thing to make St. Louis even greater.”

About The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum

The Magic House is a not-for-profit participatory museum that provides hands-on learning experiences for children and families and encourages experimentation, creativity and the development of problem-solving skills within a place of beauty, wonder, joy and magic. For more information, please call 314.822.8900 or visit The Magic House online at www.magichouse.org.