White Plains CitizeNetReporter - <i>King Komments</i> Galleria Intrigued by Children's Museum

King Comments by White Plains Councilman William King. April 30, 2002. 3:00 EDT. The peripatetic councilman suggests possible sites for a Children's Museum in White Plains, and reports the latest "Galleria Spin" from Winnette Peltz, the Galleria General Manager. He reports a department store there within two months.

Winnette Peltz, the Galleria general manager, who was considerably more upbeat, naturally, than the last time I talked to her, which was after the shooting incident there 2 years ago, says she is intrigued by the idea of a children's museum.

She said she saw such a museum in a converted dept. store in a mall in Poughkeepsie. I will have to go and take a look. She asked me how much space a children's museum would need and I said I didn't know, that I seen them in various sizes. I asked whether a store (or a children's museum), other than a dept. store in the mall, could be 2 levels, as most of the children's museums I have seen were on more than one floor, and she said there haven't been any at the Galleria but she has seen them in other malls.

I mentioned to her about my contacting IKEA a few months ago about the Penney's space which she appreciated. I said IKEA had only got back to me to say they would call me but they never did.

She said there is strong interest in the space, which the Galleria (Cadillac Fairview, the owner of a bunch of malls in the U.S. and Canada) bought from Penney's last November and that, while they thought they were close to an announcement a few months ago and stranger things have happened in the real estate business, she thought there might be something to announce in the next few months in the way of a new dept. store in the old Penney's. The new store would shoot for either a Christmas 2002 opening or in Spring 2003.

I think we'll have to look at other space in the downtown, either existing space or as part of some redevelopment project. Cappelli hasn't leased its second floor yet. They were going to contact the Children's Museum of Manhattan after I last spoke to them.

People should take a look at Rochester's. And, as I have heard, also Providence's. Baltimore has done some exciting things for kids, too. There are even old exhibits probably somewhere in storage down there from the Baltimore City Life Museum, near the Inner Harbor, which was excellent, but closed.

I would also like to look at Paris's children's museum!

William King
White Plains City Councilman

King Komments is a periodic column from the White Plains Councilman carried exclusively by WPCNR.


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