DuPage Children's Museum Moves To Temporary Digs At Westfield Fox Valley Mall

The DuPage Children’s Museum is moving to temporary digs after experiencing significant water damage due to a burst pipe last month, museum officials announced.

Starting Friday, the museum will be temporarily housed in a 3,000-square-foot space at the Westfield Fox Valley Mall at 195 Fox Valley Center, in Aurora.

The community is invited to join the children’s museum for a grand opening at the temporary space starting at noon Friday.

Late in the evening of Jan. 8, a water pipe burst causing flooding on all levels of the DuPage Children’s Museum. The museum immediately retained professional services to assess, repair and clean up the damage as quickly and efficiently as possible. It has been closed ever since.

The children’s museum then received a phone call from Scott Samson, a museum member who also happens to be the general manager of Westfield Fox Valley Mall. Samson suggested that the museum temporarily reopen in the mall. It was an offer that museum officials said they could not refuse.

While DuPage Children’s Museum continues cleaning up its 301 N. Washington location in Naperville, the museum has bright, contemporary retail space on the mall’s second level near Carson’s.

While visitors will experience DCM on a smaller scale, the museum is moving everyone’s favorite “Neighborhoods” exhibit to the mall. The temporary space also provides a platform where the children’s museum can continue fundraising programs.

DCM president and CEO Sarah Orleans said that “DCM@ The Mall Museum” allows the museum to have an even stronger presence in the community during a difficult time.

“This is an amazing collaborative partnership that we are so deeply grateful to have, and it all started with one phone call by Scott Samson, offering to help in some way,” Orleans said. “The impact of Westfield Fox Valley’s generosity and goodwill shared with the Museum is immeasurable.”

Orleans said the flood created extensive water damage imposing significant financial implications. The children’s museum is planning a grand reopening in the spring at the Naperville location.

“We will be back even stronger and better than before,” she said.

Samson called the partnership a natural fit for Westfield Fox Valley.

“Westfield is proud to host DuPage Children’s Museum at Fox Valley. Supporting our community is paramount to our company and shopping center,” Samson said. “We are thrilled to have such a high-quality, high-energy activity next to Center Court for our shoppers to enjoy with their families while they visit the mall.”

The children’s museum will be open about the same hours of the mall, seven days a week, and will be staffed by DCM employees and volunteers. The new location offers plenty of free parking and will be a “pay as you will” admission.

For more information about DCM@The Mall Museum visit the DuPage Children’s Museum website.