There were 200,000 visitors when visiting was free, asking only for voluntary donations. With all this money raised to redo the Junior Museum, wasn't there anything to be set aside as an endowment for operations to continue free visits? Asking for $20 admission for a parent and 2 children, essentially eliminates short visits for pre-schoolers and after school children.

So once again, a premier public Palo Alto asset has become privatized and will only be available to the 1%.

Don't expect that 200,000 visitors to continue.

I visited the Junior Museum many times with my grandchildren when they were young. It was a nice one hour outing. Too bad future residents will not have this benefit.

Unfortunately, in the current construction climate even $25 million won't be enough to actually build the desired new museum. (There was a recent story about the downtown Apple store spending $6million just to remodel!) There will certainly be the need to raise additional funds for this project. So NO there isn't money set aside to keep admission free.
Just the reality of modern life.

Non-profits throughout Palo Alto are rebuilding because developers, architects and their allies dominate their leadership, not because they need millions of dollars of reconstruction.

For example, Avenidas mammoth project, the Women's Club, the several way-overblown library projects, the Arts Center, City Hall lobby (over $4 million), the children's zoo, Castilleja, Paly High, the schools all over. And more.

My forecast is that the Zoo and Museum will close in 5 years due to financial reasons and lack of visitors. For something like the Oakland Zoo, or even Happy Hollow, a family may pay out this type of money for one outing each summer. But I can't see this being comparable to either of those destinations.

My family went weekly to the zoo as part of a trip to the Childrens Library, and often more often when doing camps in the area. It was a 30 minute visit at most. Those types of visits will not be possible any more. Very sad all round.

I hope everything will work out well for the Junior Museum. It is such a sweet institution, and we have been fortunate to have it in our community.