Downtown Peabody Children's Museum Gets Go-Ahead

PEABODY, MA — A downtown Peabody children's museum concept eight years in development took a major leap toward fruition Thursday night when the City Council's Finance Committee narrowly approved Mayor Ted Bettencourt's financing proposal for the property at 10 Main Street.

In a 3-2 vote, the Committee approved the creation of a Children's Museum Department in the city with two full-time positions and the authorization for the city to enter into a five-year lease for the former TD Bank property.

The Finance Committee also unanimously voted to review the museum's sustainability in three years. Bettencourt's proposal indicated that while the museum may initially run at a deficit given its projected $521,000 budget and startup costs, he expects it to be self-sustained within about three years and potentially profitable beyond that.

"Ultimately, this is a risk," Bettencourt allowed. "I think it's a minimal risk. I think we will be able to present to you ways this is going to be a success and ways it will work."

Bettencourt said he expects the Children's Museum to be "an anchor of the downtown" and drive revenue to area businesses.

(Also on Patch: Peabody Mayor Touts Impact Of 3 Downtown Revitalization Projects)

"I want this for our downtown," Bettencourt said. "I want this for our city. I want this for our children. I want this for our residents and our families."

The full City Council approved the plans in an 8-2 vote.

While all Finance Committee members expressed support for the concept, Councilors Anne Manning-Martin and Jon Turco voted against authorizing the financing. Manning-Martin said the timing is not right for a project that includes the risk of cost uncertainty, while Turco said he would rather a nonprofit be set up to run the museum through grants and private funds, rather than municipal dollars.

"Our feeling was that if it's a city project and a city investment that it should come from the city," said Bettencourt of the desire to have the museum be municipally funded, at least initially, while also noting that it was important for Peabody to get out in front of other area communities proposing similar museums. "We have the opportunity to make this happen now and the possibilities are limitless."

Councilors Peter McGinn, David Gamache and Thomas Gould all voted for the project that was conceived back in 2014 and included gathering data from the yearlong Curious Peabody museum open in the George Peabody House from March 2019 to March 2020.

Peabody Cultural Collaborative's Martha Holden said that data included triple the expected visitation over the 42 weeks it was operational, including 9,200 visitors from 160 different communities and 24 states. She said 78 percent of visitors to the temporary museum were from outside of the city.

"I would not have come forward without this data and without this information that proves this can be a success," Bettencourt said. "I believe this can be self-sustainable. I believe it can be profitable. It's also really important to realize that it's hard to put a number on what this could mean for the area shops and restaurants."

The staff is set to resemble that of the Senior Center with a full-time executive director and administrative assistant supported with part-time positions. A Board of Directors and Friends of Children's Museum group will be set up to guide policy and help with fundraising.

Bettencourt said the initial five-year lease includes a three-month rent break to start and will include a 3 percent increase each year. Bettencourt said the lease includes options that could extend it up to 30 years.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)