Kids museum debuts in downtown Tampa

Newly transplanted from Jacksonville, Milton Butler of Riverview searched the Internet this morning for something to do with his children.

And there it was: the grand opening of the Glazer Children's Museum.

Butler watched from the security of the museum's second floor as his daughters, Melia, 6, and Leilani, 3, clambered up and down a climbing gym that mimics the path water takes from evaporation to rainfall.

They were among the thousands of parents and youngsters who visited the 53,000-square-foot complex, which sits on the edge of Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. It's the newest addition to Tampa's efforts to breathe live into downtown.

The interactive displays run the gamut of life in the Tampa Bay area, from air and water travel to medicine, sports and engineering. Children can treat stuffed animals at a miniature vet clinic and present the weather on a pretend television set.

Media General and the Florida Communications Group, the parent companies of The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com and WFLA, Channel 8, contributed $300,000 to the museum's construction.

Other local companies also contributed. The single largest donation was the $5 million from the Glazer family, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Jeremy Nelson and his son, Isaac, 8, spent part of their visit crafting paper airplanes at a station dedicated to aviation. Children can get instructions on folding the plane and can test its airworthiness in a miniature wind tunnel. Then they launch it in an enclosed airfield.

Nelson liked what his family saw enough to buy a $90 annual pass. But, as a veteran of Tampa's other kid-friendly venues, he wonders how long the museum can sustain its audience.

"I'll be interested to see how much replay value there is," he said. "Do they want to keep coming back?"

If Danny Claxton of Tampa has anything to do with it, he and his grandson, Zach, will visit the museum as often as they can.

Claxton was one of the few adults to squeeze through the climbing gym. He exited winded but enthusiastic.

"I'm a kid on the weekends," he said.