Construction on Bayou-themed kids’ museum to begin soon

It was an ambitious idea, and 12 years later, it is coming to fruition.

The Bayou Country Children’s Museum plans to break ground near Nicholls State University on its $3.4 million, 12,700-square foot facility this summer. Officials with the organization said they anticipate opening the museum by fall of 2012, and they will do so without having burdened the area’s taxpayers.

“This is not just a place for kids to come play,” said Christy Naquin, the museum’s executive director. “It’s not even a place for them to just learn. We’re actually trying to preserve and even promote the Cajun culture of this area.”

The original idea, which was hatched 12 years ago, was to build the museum without taking on debt, Naquin said. That plan has since changed, and the non-profit will use the $1 million it has already collected to complement a pending collaborative bank loan to get the project started.

This, Naquin said, would show prospective donors that their money is going to be used in the near future and would facilitate the grant-procurement process.

“There are grants out there that we fit perfectly, however, because we haven’t broken ground yet, we don’t qualify,” Naquin said. “I definitely feel that it’s going to open the door for a lot of grants, a lot of other sponsors and it will just get the community really, really excited about.”

The museum will be built on a 2.1-acre tract of land on Percy Brown Road adjacent to Nicholls. Jaron Land Development, co-owned by local businessmen Jacob Giardina and Ron Adams, agreed in April to lease the property to Bayou Country for 80 years and $1.

BCCM is in the process of interviewing a short list of contractors. “We are hoping to have all of that settled so that by the late summer, we will be able to break ground,” Naquin said. “It’s going to take about 12 months for the building to be completed, barring harsh weather conditions.”

More than 6,500 square feet of the museum will be dedicated to exhibits, which will be thematically coordinated as if a person was traveling down one of the Mississippi River bayous.

The south Louisiana lifestyle will be on display and featured in exhibits such as water estuary tables to focus on coastal erosion, a sugar cane harvester and maze, an alligator Mardi Gras float, a shrimp boat and a farmer’s market. The museum’s resident restaurant will also be incorporated into the theme as a Cajun cottage.

“Because we really feel so strongly about all of the different unique and signature exhibits in here that we feel this is going to be a strong tourist attraction for the entire year,” Naquin said.

BCCM is one of dozens of emerging children’s museums to be a member of the Association of Children’s Museums, which boasts 341 member museums in 22 countries. Bayou Country is one of three emerging museums in the state, which has four open museums that are members of the ACM.

“I think that [Bayou Country] doing a good job of really celebrating their community,” ACM spokeswoman Diane Kopasz said. “I know that they really have a strong Cajun theme, and that’s something that we definitely encourage all of our children’s museums to do, to really make your children’s museum unlike anyone else’s… It has to do with sort of the mission of most children’s museums, which is they need to reflect the diversity within their own community.”

Bayou Country aims to serve eight parishes, Assumption, Ascension, Lafourche, St. Charles, St James, St. John, St. Mary and Terrebonne, but will also attempt to attract visitors from beyond the regional realm. In particular, Naquin said, the museum will focus on forging a partnership with the area’s school districts.

“We work very closely with the teachers and the school systems to assess what they feel the needs are,” said Kathleen Gros, president of the BCCM board of directors. “The primary two [goals] are to continue what they are teaching in the classroom away from the classroom and the second was to have an accessible field trip destination.”

The museum will issue pre- and post-trip packets to help teachers prepare their students for the various lessons. As the students progress through school, they will return to the same exhibits but complete higher-level exercises.

“A younger child may say, ‘OK, I’m taking three items from the grocery store, and I’m running them across the scanner.’ An older child may say, ‘I need to get three items that have 20 ounces in them.’ [Both exercises] teach the math, but also on a level where they can identify with it.”

Terrebonne Schools Superintendent Philip Martin said he hasn’t been in direct contact with BCCM officials, but he sees the museum as an asset to the community.

“From what I do know, it seems like something that would have a definite purpose in the community, specifically with school-aged children.

“Often times, we neglect instilling the importance of our own culture in our own kids. We take it for granted, so I think it can highlight some of those things that are unique to our culture. We would look forward to having utilizing that facility.”

Bayou Country Children’s Museum Board President Kathleen Gros (left) and Executive Director Christy Naquin expect construction on the bayou-themed children’s museum is expected to begin this summer. ERIC BESSON