Given that they're quite rare in our corner of the world, it was the Insect Hotel in the outdoor children's play area at the Children's Museum of Bozeman that brought us here. Both inside and out, the museum has a lot to offer kids, more so with an aim toward learning than toward simply entertaining. While the "OPEN" sign was lit when we visited, there was noone to be found at the museum, meaning that it must have been a Sunday.
A few months before we visited, the museum was also closed, this time for nearly two months. In November of 2016 an accidental triggering of the indoor fire suppression sprinklers put the museum out of action while restoration work, both to the building and some of the museum's exhibits, was undertaken. By mid January of 2017 the museum was up and running again. Details at 11, right after the sports...
Bozeman Children’s Museum
back open after flood
By Eric Dietrich Chronicle Staff Writer | Jan 17, 2017
Forced to close in late November because of flooding from a plumbing misfortune, the Children’s Museum of Bozeman is back in business.
The museum at 202 S. Willson Ave. closed for six weeks after a plumber unintentionally triggered a fire sprinkler in its building Nov. 21, said Executive Director Eleanor Barker.
The incident flushed several hundred gallons of water into the attic of the museum’s building at the corner of Olive Street and Willson Avenue, making new drywall, lights and carpeting necessary in the lower levels where the nonprofit rents space.
The damage was covered by insurance, Barker said, but the incident saw the museum closed over winter break, usually its busiest time of year.
It also cost the museum some of its exhibits, including a laser exhibit and its Bernoulli blower. Fortunately, though, the water damage spared the 3-D printers, laptops and Arduino circuit boards in the museum’s basement technology lab.
To Barker’s relief, work to get the museum back up to snuff also managed to avoid overheating the residents of its fish tank, apart from a single snail — despite subjecting them to days of heaters and fans set up to dry out the building.
“That was a big win,” Barker said, saying she came in to stock the fish tank with ice cubes so its temperature would stay comfortable for its residents.
The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., as well as 5 to 8 p.m. for a free Friday event the second Friday of each month.
From the Bozeman Daily Chronicle