Thirty years ago, in November of 1992, the Building for Kids, Inc., originally called the Fox Cities Children’s Museum, opened its doors to the public for the first time.

Located in the heart of downtown Appleton, the museum’s founders, Paula Meyer and Rochelle Lamm, sought to revitalize the downtown district while also providing kids and their grown-ups with a safe place to learn through play.

30 years ago, the Building For Kids (which was called the Children’s Museum), opened at the old Prange retail site in downtown Appleton

Throughout the museum’s history, the Building for Kids has relied on the support of local partners, such as the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. From the first seed grant of $5,000 to support the museum’s launch to a $500,000 grant from the John J. and Ethel D. Keller Fund to support the creation of the two-story Discovery Tree that sits in the center of the museum, the Building for Kids has received 387 grants and more than $4.7 million from generous individuals and organizations through funds at the Community Foundation.

The critically important work of inspiring discovery and building resilience through intergenerational play-based learning and exploration of the arts, sciences, and humanities would not be possible without the generosity of our community. The Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region has been a key partner over our 30-year history, and we look forward to continuing to work with the foundation and donors across our community to invest in our shared future.

Thanks to everyone’s support, over 1 million kids and their grown-ups have been impacted by this foundational community institution over the years.