Discovery World on Market updates Wood County Commission on progress, plans

PARKERSBURG -- The new children's museum has had many visitors since opening in April as officials are looking for local support to continue renovations to its building in Parkersburg.

Discovery World on Market Executive Director Wendy Shriver and Tres Ross of the Ross Foundation appeared before the Wood County Commission on Monday to discuss how the museum, located at 900 Market St. in Parkersburg, has been doing and to ask for assistance in renovating the building's theater space.

The project began its planning stages back in 2018 when the Ross Foundation wanted to do a large-scale project "to affect a lot of people," Shriver said.

The 13,000 square-foot museum itself is located in the former Masonic Temple building in Parkersburg after a lot of work was done to renovate it.

The museum opened April 2 and has since seen over 42,000 visitors from 29 different states.

"This is not just an educational destination for schools and families, but it is also a tourist destination," Shriver said. "People are traveling here to see this."

The museum has hosted over 75 school field trips, with some schools coming from the Athens, Ohio area.

"The word is getting out about Discovery World," Shriver said. "We knew our primary area would be Wood and Washington counties, but we are reaching much further than that."

The museum is fully staffed with five full-time staff and 27 part-time employees which makes it an economic driver for the area.

The museum is in the middle of a capital campaign to fund renovations to the building's fourth floor to turn it into a theater area. Some work has been done on restrooms, additional exits from the theater area, the sprinkler system, the air system and the elevator going to the fourth floor.

"We want to see activities going on in that theater," Shriver said of programming for both children and the community at large. Ideas discussed have been a variety of speakers, programs for kids, comedy events, live music, movies and more.

"There are things that need to be done to bring it up to code," Shriver said, adding work that needs to be done to the area is around $550,000, based on quotes made over a year ago. It covers a variety of work for the lighting, the acoustics, the staging and more. Shriver said they were informed they will receive $300,000 in federal earmark funding, through U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), which depends on the bill passing.

That floor alone has over 4,000-square-feet of space and could hold around 400 people, Ross said.

Commissioner Jimmy Colombo said that would be great for lectures.

The museum acquired the building next door (where the Wood County Seniors Center used to be) as well as its parking area behind it which is being utilized for the portable ice skating rink that has been set up in the building for after-hours activities.

Makerspace activities for kids planned during the first week of Christmas break which will utilize 3-D printing. A Halloween event was held there for adults that saw 130 attend with 90 percent in costume.

"We want to be a facility that will be an amenity for our community," Shriver said. "It is already proving to be such."

The museum is now a draw for employers looking to move into the area for things people can do once they move here, Shriver said.

Ross said the focus of doing the museum was "how can we affect a lot of people." The foundation is now working with West Virginia University at Parkersburg to develop the former Ohio Valley University campus into the WVUP Technology Center with a $10 million donation to the WVU at Parkersburg Foundation.

"We look forward to helping the community more and more," Ross said.

The work the Ross Foundation is doing will be felt for years to come with future generations, Colombo said.

"What you have done is provide for future growth for a lot of things in this area," he said.

Shriver asked for any help the commission can provide to the theater project. They have renderings of what the theater could look like.

The commission said they will take it under advisement and will have to review the request when they start the budget process in early 2024.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com