The Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine has obtained approval to leave its downtown Portland building for a new location.
The Portland Planning Board approved a permit Tuesday that will allow the museum to move to a yet-to-be-constructed building on Thompson’s Point.
Executive Director Suzanne Olson says they’ve outgrown their current space, one they’ve been in for 20 years. She says the new building will be three stories tall and occupy about 30,000 square feet.
“Our current building is 18,000 square feet, so it’s substantially different in size,” she says. “What we’re very excited about is that it will actually be a purpose-built building. So rather than this building, which was created originally to be, I think, a church, this [new] building is designed really with the intention of meeting the needs of children and their families.”
Olson says, depending on fundraising, plans are to be in the new space by late spring 2019.
Olsen says the museum will remain open in its current location until the new building is ready to be occupied.
