St. Louis Children’s Museum Opens New Airport Play Area at Lambert

Lambert- St. Louis International Airport has opened a transportation-themed play exhibit that will help children burn restless energy and inspire their imaginations at the same time.

The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum unveiled the St. Louis International Play Port,a 1,500 sq. ft. exhibit, in the C Concourse at Gate C2. This interactive exhibit features a mini airport where children will use their imaginations to experience what it’s like to travel these days. The play area includes a kid-sized plane, an air traffic control tower with a slide, car rental counters, a luggage conveyor belt and an airport screening area with a pretend x-ray machine. Children can also explore other popular modes of transportation in the exhibit including a car, a truck and a van. They can also take the driver’s seat in kids-version of a MetroLink light rail train, which is a popular mode of transportation to the Airport and across the St. Louis area.

“The Play Port is a welcome addition for the thousands of families who travel through Lambert each year,” said Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, Director of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. “We are thrilled to have partnered with The Magic House to open this unique space which will fuel the wonder of travel for children and give families a one-of-a kind activity that can only be found at Lambert.”

The Magic House’s children’s exhibit at the airport took off in large part due to the strong showing of community support for the idea through RallySTL.org, a first-of-its-kind crowdsourcing and crowdfunding platform where consumers submit, vote for, and help fund ideas that drive progress in greater St. Louis.

“It was gratifying to see the community rally around the idea of an interactive play and learning space at the airport, and we were honored to be asked to create it,” said Beth Fitzgerald, President of The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum. “St. Louis is such a family-oriented city, and we wanted to design an exhibit that would make a positive first impression on families traveling through our airport.”

St. Louis attractions will be featured throughout the exhibit to help tourists and residents discover all of the family fun that St. Louis has to offer. “We are excited to see such a creative way to share the many great things there are to do in St. Louis with travelers at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport,” said Kitty Ratcliff, President of the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission. “The Magic House has long been an asset to the community, and we are excited to have their work showcased to the many travelers coming through St. Louis.”

Major donors and supporters of the 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.

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.