ENID – In 2010, visitors from 46 states and the District of Columbia, 15 other countries and 60 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties came to downtown Enid to Leonardo’s Discovery Warehouse & Adventure Quest.
In August, the millionth visitor came to Leonardo’s since the hands-on children’s arts and science museum opened in 1995.
Now the museum is starting a campaign to raise money to renovate and enlarge the museum and prepare Leonardo’s for the next 15 years.
“The board has been planning how we can prepare for the next 1 million children,” said Julie Baird, executive director of Leonardo’s.
The nonprofit museum’s board has hired an architect and a fundraising company for the campaign, she said. A campaign assessment is expected to be completed in several weeks.
“We are looking at $5 million to $6 million as a campaign goal,” Baird said.
The campaign goal is expected to include about $3 million to renovate the building and exhibits and about $2.5 million as an endowment for maintenance and operations, she said.
“We hope to start the renovations this fall,” Baird said. “We do not anticipate it will all be done this year, but it will be started. We hope to finish it in three years.”
There is a lot to renovate. The building with the science and arts museum has three floors, each with 10,000 square feet.
Adventure Quest, an outdoor science playground, is across the street and includes a three-story wooden castle including bridges, slides, swings, mazes, a water table and dinosaur dig. Adventure Quest has been designated the “world’s largest community-built outdoor playground” by Leathers & Associates, an architectural firm that specializes in community playgrounds.
Renovations will include transforming the third floor, which is now used for storage, into an education center. The main entrance will be moved from the west side of the building to the south side.
“We will give the outside of the museum a face-lift,” she said. “We want to give the outside a more childlike look, but still have it look like a warehouse.”
The museum’s numerous hands-on exhibits are created to inspire children and make learning fun are included in the renovation plans.
“Everything is hands-on,” Baird said. “We encourage the children to be involved and the parents and grandparents to be involved with the children.”
In the carpenter shop, visitors can use real tools and materials for building. In the art studio, children create paintings and other artworks. The arts area includes a pottery studio and a mini theater dress-up area with a selection of costumes.
The hands-on experience includes animals and reptiles. Visitors can pet snakes, lizards and small animals, including a hedgehog. A trained staff member or volunteer holds the animals and reptiles while the visitor does the petting.
The science area includes interactive exhibits including a dinosaur play and fossil dig and several aeronautics displays – a flight tower, an Air Force T-37 and a two-seat space shuttle flight simulator.
Leonardo’s art and science themed exhibits were the vision of the museum’s founders – Helen Mary Walker Garriott and Owen Garriott, Baird said.
Helen Garriott was an artist and an art teacher and Owen Garriott is a former NASA astronaut and an electrical engineer. They were 1948 graduates of Enid High School and wanted to give something back to the community, Baird said.
“They bought the building and donated it,” she said.
Built in the early 1900s, the building had been vacant for years before the conversion into the museum. Uses over the years included a grocery store and a Sears’ warehouse.
“Owen remembered coming to the building as a Cub Scout around 1936 and seeing candy made,” Baird said.
The Enid Arts and Science Foundation was formed in September 1992 to create the museum. Leonardo’s, named for artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, began classes in 1994 and opened in September 1995. Adventure Quest opened in September 1996.
Leonardo’s has been a community effort from the start.
“Eighty-five percent of the businesses in Enid made donations to help open the museum,” Baird said.
Many individuals also provided support.
Leonardo’s was debt-free when it opened in 1995, Baird said.
Since opening, Leonardo’s has averaged about 90,000 visitors annually. About two-thirds are children who come with school and other groups.
The museum operates on a budget of about $500,000 annually.
Revenue from operations provides about 60 percent of the annual budget. Revenue from operations includes arts and science classes.
Camp Leonardo’s Summer Camp for ages 4 to 12 is a 10-week session of arts and science exploration.
Continental Resources Science Adventure Club promotes interest in science with after-school sessions for grades four and five and six through eight.
“Continental Resources wants students to get interested in science careers,” she said. “They want us to keep science fun and exciting.”
Other programs include Critters in the Classroom, Da Vinci Players Children’s Theatre and Mini Music for mothers and infants and toddlers.
Grants and donations provide 35 percent to 40 percent of the money for the budget, Baird said.
“We write 12 to 18 grant proposals a year,” she said. “But you do not get all those.”
Major supporters include the city of Enid, the Oklahoma Arts Council, the Cherokee Strip Community Foundation and Park Avenue Thrift.
“The Garriott family continues to support us as do local businesses,” she said. “We also do a number of fundraisers.”
Visitors often spend several hours at the interactive museum and Adventure Quest. Memberships allow visitors to come for shorter times on a regular basis.
To help encourage return visits, Leonardo’s is a member of the Oklahoma Museum Network. As a member, the museum receives a new exhibit every six months. The network started in 2008 and is funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.
“We currently have our sixth traveling exhibit,” Baird said. “A new exhibit gives members and guests more reasons to visit regularly.”