The Project involves the acquisition and renovation of a building to establish a permanent home for a world-class experiential STEM and cultural learning center for children and families in the region. KID Museum is looking for a building of approximately 50,000 square feet in size to provide high quality programs. Upon acquisition, the building will be redeveloped under a public-private partnership for occupancy by KID Museum, a non-profit organization serving families and elementary/middle school students. The interior improvements will be designed and constructed by KID Museum pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the County. Funding for these improvements will be raised from private and public sources. The improvements include demolition of existing office partitions, construction of additional bathrooms and access enhancements, and construction of maker spaces, exhibition spaces, assembly spaces, and administrative spaces.
Efforts to date to acquire a suitable site for KID museum have be unsuccessful, so the Museum has opted to rent an expanded facility on an interim basis. This will allow KID museum to immediately expand its partnership programs with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to address COVID-19-related learning losses, serve at risk children, and provide hands-on learning programs for more children and their families. As a result, the County's support for KID museum will shift to the operating budget, and this CIP project will be phased out. For FY22, Recordation Tax Premium funds were left in the project to facilitate FY23 operating budget funding.

The project schedule will be updated once a suitable site is found.

In FY22, the County's support for KID Museum shifted to the Operating Budget.

The County intends to acquire a building to facilitate growth of STEM and 21^st century educational opportunities offered by KID Museum. It reflects the County's leadership role in enabling the growth of cultural facilities (e.g., Music Center at Strathmore, Imagination Stage, etc.), which provide broad and essential educational opportunities to diverse student populations. KID Museum has formed a successful, district-wide partnership with MCPS for hands-on student learning in STEM-related fields, and is unable to fulfill growing demands for services in 7,500 square feet of leased space at Davis Library in North Bethesda. This capital project will expand substantially the space available for instructional activities and inter-generational programs. KID Museum is a Maryland corporation and is exempt from taxation under federal law. It currently serves approximately 55,000 patrons annually. It projects visits by approximately 250,000 patrons once its operations relocate to a larger and more suitable location. As a dynamic hub for informal learning and unique community gathering space for people from all walks-of-life, KID Museum will become a new kind of cultural anchor for Montgomery County that empowers youth from diverse backgrounds to become the innovators and change makers of the future. In so doing, the project reflects the County's deep commitment to education, innovation, and diversity and will create a regional attraction that reinforces and elevates these core values.

In FY22, the County's support for KID Museum shifted to the Operating Budget. KID Museum $1.2M funding in the Recordation Tax Premium reallocated to MCG Recordation PDF. Recordation tax premium funds have been left in the project to facilitate FY23 operating budget support. The City of Rockville's prior financial commitment is assumed to continue. The County's contribution is toward the design and renovation of the building. The County Council intended to appropriate $1,000,000 in FY19 for design, and KID Museum would raise a matching $1,000,000 from other sources for construction. The Council intended to appropriate the remaining construction funds as a 1:1 match to funds raised by KID Museum from other sources. Assuming a partnership with the City of Rockville as originally intended, apart from closing costs, no design funds may be spent until a copy of the finalized agreement between the County and the City of Rockville for co-ownership of the building and a finalized MOU between the County and KID Museum for use of the space is provided to the Council. Addition of $2,930,000 in GO Bonds to FY20 reflects the intention of Council to provide full funding for the project.

KID Museum, Department of General Services, Department of Permitting Services, and City of Rockville.