Pretend City is for real. That was the message at last month’s City Council meeting, as Pretend City officials gave an update on the planning for the children’s museum and activity center that will be part of the Great Park’s Cultural Terrace West, along with the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum and the Asian American History Museum.Pretend City board chair Erin Boyl, Executive Director Ellen Pais, and Project Director Linda Hunter told the Council that plans are in place to break ground in January 2025. The new facility, at 72,000 square feet, will be three times the size of the current children’s museum near the Irvine Spectrum.
It is envisioned as “an early-childhood development hub,” said Boyl. “The imaginative experiences children engage in at Pretend City are essential to the development of learning and life skills.”
The new museum will be an environmentally responsible facility, Hunter told the Council, with indoor and outdoor learning spaces.
The heart of the museum will be set up like a city, with a street lined with exhibits: a mail center, auto service station, supermarket, bank, theater and café — each with learning activities for young children. For instance, the mail center will have a display where kids can learn map-reading skills by tracking the progress of a package on a wall map.
“It will have tried-and-true exhibits we’ve had for years, but updated,” said Hunter, “and several new exhibits including a tech lab and a media center.”
There will be an indoor/outdoor art studio, she added, and outdoor features like a beach and a waterfall and stream that runs into a tidepool.
Pais noted that the museum is working with partner organizations to provide a range of services for youngsters and their families.
“Co-located with the museum will be a premier nonprofit that provides therapies for children with all kinds of delays and disabilities,” she said, adding that the museum will also have a program to train professionals who work with young children and a resource center for parents.
The museum will maintain and expand its scholarship program to enable kids from lower income families to visit the museum at reduced or no cost. “We will be truly able to accommodate anyone who wants to come,” Pais said.
Councilmembers were enthusiastic about the plans. “I’m really impressed,” said Mayor Farrah Khan. “I’m looking forward to what’s coming.”
Roger Bloom is a long-time Orange County journalist and two-time president of the Orange County Press Club. He was the founding editor of the Newport Beach Independent and is a former managing editor of the Orange County Business Journal. Mr. Bloom now serves as News Editor for Irvine Community News & Views.
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