Aiming to WOW Downtown Lodi this summer with science

A panoramic photograph shows the space at the future World of Wonders Science Museum underneath the parking garage in Downtown Lodi. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday for the project. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Aiming to WOW Downtown Lodi this summer with science

Museum's first exhibit: The wonder of fundraising

By Amanda Dyer
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Friday, January 25, 2008 6:55 AM PST

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Sam Dean stood on the dirt floor of the future site of the World of Wonders Museum in Downtown Lodi, holding a picture frame.

The twinkle behind his wire-rimmed glasses and his boyish grin contrasted with his professional attire of slacks and a calf-length overcoat.

Dean is the director of ExNet, a branch of the San Francisco Exploratorium science museum that contracts with beginning science museums around the world. Dean came to Lodi on Thursday to celebrate the WOW Museum's groundbreaking.

Inside the picture frame were two photos: one of an empty San Francisco warehouse in the 1960s; the second showing the same warehouse, which now houses the Exploratorium, filled with exhibits and people.

"This is where we are today," said Sally Snyde, WOW's president, pointing at the first photo. "And that is where we will be," she said looking at the second.

Today the WOW is little more than a few walls surrounding a bare dirt floor.

"There's no infrastructure. There's no electrical. There's no plumbing," said Christina Wilson, a member of the WOW board.

Those associated with the WOW hope that will change, though, and fast. The groundbreaking kicked off the museum's membership drive and another round of fund-raisers that WOW board members hope will allow the museum to open by this summer.

Wilson said the museum expects to have 30 to 35 hands-on exhibits that will be purchased from the Exploratorium through the museum's three-year partnership.

The WOW will be providing some of its own exhibits, as well. Some exhibits will explore electricity — where it comes from, how we use it. Others will touch on sound and motion.

Snyde said that organizers are working with solar companies to make the building, itself, an exhibit.

Other attractions include special educational programs, another perk of the Exploratorium partnership, and an area sponsored by Phillip's Farms called "Grampa Don's Farm," where toddlers can frolic and play without disturbing the other patrons.

So far, the museum has raised approximately a quarter-of-a-million dollars through grassroots fundraising. However, board members say they'll need another $750,000 to get the museum open by this summer.

They plan to do that with a series of fund-raisers, including a golf tournament, a casino night and, when they lay the cement, a hard-hat party at which people can sponsor portions of the building.

The WOW's finances at a glance

• The museum hopes to raise $1 million to open the WOW by this summer.
• The WOW has raised $250,000 in cash so far through grassroots fundraising.
• Approximately, $165,000 of its donations have gone to the city of Lodi as a security deposit for the building. The WOW will eventually get that money back as it opens.
• Exhibits for the WOW cost between $12,000 and $20,000 each. Total cost for the museum's exhibits will be $150,000 to $200,000.
• The largest donation that the WOW has received from an individual was $10,000.
• As a tenant of the building the WOW is expected to make improvements to the building, including laying cement, doing electrical work and putting in necessary plumbing. Those cost, alone, if none of them are donated, will be $725,000.
• For more information or to donate to the World of Wonders, call 327-6369.
— News-Sentinel staff.

The group of dedicated volunteers also plans to send out letters asking people to donate.

Though the idea for the WOW has been brewing for quite some time, its relationship with the city of Lodi started approximately two years ago when Snyde called City Manager Blair King.

"I said, 'What's going on with that building on Sacramento Street?'" Snyde recalled at the groundbreaking. "He said, 'How soon do you want to meet?'"

The building has sat vacant since the city built it in 2002.

The WOW worked out a deal with the city that would allow them to have essentially rent-free access to the building until February 2009, when they will pay $1,030 a month.

King hopes that putting the museum Downtown will draw visitors, along with their pocketbooks, into the area.

"Museums contribute a lot to cities," King said. "We're just waiting for it to open up and we can't wait for it to happen."

Pat Patrick, Lodi Chamber of Commerce president, said the WOW could be the catalyst that would clean up the whole block. The WOW currently faces a bar and a few vacant buildings.

Lockeford resident Richard Eklund came out to the groundbreaking to support the museum.

He said the project has "the ability to teach the next generation the necessary science lessons that we're going to have to master to survive."

As director of ExNet, Dean has gotten a chance to help start up museums from Ft. Worth, Texas to Paris, France.

Some have been natural history museums that have converted into science museums. Some have been 1,200-square-foot spots smack in the middle of college campuses, he said.

So, how does the WOW stack up against these other start-ups?

"It looks great. It looks fantastic," said Dean, whose Exploratorium business card is even a puzzle. The challenge is to figure out how to stick a quarter through a slightly smaller hole that makes the oversized "O" in the museum's logo.

"Play and messing about — those are two things that I like to think about," Dean said. "We learn through play."

Contact reporter Amanda Dyer at amandad@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

16925 wrote on Jan 26, 2008 9:04 AM:

" This is going to be so great for kids. "

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