Past and Present: Brooklyn Children’s Museum

A Look at Brooklyn, then and now.

The Brooklyn Children’s Museum was a radical concept instituted by the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Science, the precursors of today’s Brooklyn Museum. It was the first children’s museum in the nation, and the first to institute a “hands-on” policy, incorporating the idea of field trips, demonstrations and workshops for children into the classic museum setting. Towards the turn of the 20th century, the Brooklyn Institute was in the process of planning their new building on Eastern Parkway, and began consolidating their collections, which included not only artworks, but natural history and science collections, as well as an extensive library. The Institute bought the William Newton Adams house, sitting on the corner of what was then called Bedford Park, from the City of Brooklyn in 1893, to house their library, as well as the departments of geology, zoology, mineralogy, geography and botany. The old house was only to be a temporary rest stop on the way to the grand new Institute Building.

The trustees decided to establish a children’s museum at this site, and several rooms were set up, utilizing many of the natural history exhibits already in residence. The doors to the Children’s Museum were opened in the winter of 1899, and the museum dedicated to children was an unqualified success. It soon grew so popular that hours had to be extended, and then more and more room dedicated to it. They soon took over the entire building, as well as expanded to another mansion next door in the 1920’s. The Children’s Museum stayed in those two wood frame mansions until 1966.

The museum was temporarily re-located to an old auto showroom on Bedford Avenue while the old houses were torn down, and a brand new underground museum constructed, a futuristic tunnel to discovery designed by the firm of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer, which was completed in 1977. In 2007, contemporary architect, Rafael Viñoly, was commissioned to build on top of the old museum, adding more exhibition and office space, a cafeteria, gift shop and outdoor theater, among other features. His design was quite radical for the area, a bright yellow organic shape covered with millions of yellow tiles. The building is LEED Silver certified with all kinds of “green” technologies and features. The design is both hated and loved by architectural critics and passers-by, but it is undisputed that the new museum is even more popular than ever, drawing thousands of people to the community. It is one of the gems in Crown Heights’ crown. GMAP

Please join me in a walking tour of Crown Heights North, this Saturday at 11 am. Tour starts at the corner of Dean and Bedford, in front of the Union League Club. Cost is $20, and the tour takes about 2 hours. We pass this building! Hope to see you there. See website for more details.UPDATE: DUE TO HURRICANE, TOUR IS CANCELLED.