Council Vote Could Lead to Children’s Museum

The Riverside City Council is scheduled to vote this month on whether to move the city’s main library downtown, a move that would pave the way for bringing an interactive children’s museum to that location.

If approved, the city would negotiate exclusively with the Discovery Science Foundation to bring a Discovery Cube interactive museum to the library site at 3581 Mission Inn Blvd, according to a statement.

Council members would then have to decide where to move the main library. Two downtown sites are currently being considered, only one of which is owned by the city, City Manager John A. Russo said.

Riverside’s Board of Library Trustees recommended last month that the library be moved, declaring that the building cannot be renovated into a modern-day library. Ultimately, the council will decide that issue.

The foundation already operates two interactive museums for children, one in Los Angeles and the other in Santa Ana. Riverside officials hope a similar facility in the library site will become a regional attraction.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for Riverside because we don’t have anything like this,” Russo said. “It will be a great resource for children and their teachers, and it will show that Riverside is committed to being a city of innovation.”

If the vote is approved, the city and the non-profit foundation would have one year to determine the cost and feasibility of the project, which would be called “Discovery Cube Riverside.”