Rock Springs Children's Discovery Center to Officially Open Monday

ROCK SPRINGS — A new discovery center based around a children’s museum concept will open in downtown Rock Springs next week.

Parents who are looking for something for their children to do, will want to make sure to check out the Children’s Discovery Center, which is located at the Rock Springs Library at 400 C Street. The center is scheduled to officially open Monday, March 22, with a ribbon cutting at 10:15 a.m.

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the library will only be taking reservations for groups of up to 25 people to use the facility. Residents can start making these reservations on Monday, Assistant Library Director Lindsey Travis said. Only certain time slots are available to allow for staff to properly sanitize the entire area with fogging machines before the next group arrives.

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“We aren’t going to take walk-ins at this point,” Travis said. “We also want everyone to have a good experience.”

While this may not be the grand opening envisioned when the project started, the employees are still excited to see the project completed and ready to use. According to Travis, this project has taken over a year and a half to complete.

“We’ve been building it throughout the past year,” Travis said. “This was supposed to open last summer.”

The pandemic put a halt to the opening of the center, but that didn’t deter the volunteers and employees from completing the project.

These are just some of the many exhibits at the new Children’s Discovery Center. SweetwaterNOW photos by Stephanie Thompson

Children and parents who visit the Children’s Center can expect to see a mini Rock Springs, complete with a Broadway Theater, a market, an ice cream truck, two fire trucks, a veterinarian clinic, and a Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County nursery. However, that’s not all they will get to enjoy. Children can also play in a camper, learn how wind tunnels and turbines work or try their luck at a flight simulator.

Still, that’s not everything. They can also create a maze on the magnetic wall, build a big tower with blue blocks, enjoy the LEGO station, K’NEX area or work with Snap Circuits.

“Any age kid is going to enjoy this,” Travis said. “There’s something for everyone.”

All of the areas will have books selected to go with the theme of the exhibit. This will encourage children to read about the exhibits they are visiting. Travis said they may also have programs in the future tied to the exhibits.

What may be best about this roughly $100,000 project, is how it was completed and paid for. Travis said Jana Pastor, was not only a volunteer, but the one who came up with the idea and spearheaded the project. Pastor also helped with all the fundraising and coordinating of the project.

“This was all put together with donations by local businesses and community members,” Travis said.

How to Reserve

The library will begin taking reservations for Discovery Center time slots at 10:30 a.m. Monday,
March 22.
Two time slots will be available each week day – one from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and one from
1:30 to 3:30 p.m. One time slot will be available Saturdays from 1-3.
25 people will be allowed in each time slot – this includes children and their adults
Children must be accompanied by adults
Reservations can be made by calling the library at 352-6667 starting March 22 at 10:30 a.m.

For a complete list of all the volunteers and sponsors see the document below.