Who’s the oldest kid in Pittsburgh?

Our local kids’ museum turns the decidedly un-kid-like age of 30 today, but the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is unabashedly celebrating with a very kid-friendly and public birthday party and free admission on June 22.

In 2004, when the museum was considering its recent expansion, it was receiving 100,000 visitors a year. “This year we expect to break all records; we’re on track to pass 260,000,” says museum spokesperson Bill Schlageter. When it opened, the museum’s annual budget was $540,000; this year it is $5.4 million.

“It’s a big moment for us,” he says. Indeed, the museum was featured in May in a new book called Magnetic Museums, which covers five museums in the country that have “become vital players in the social, civic and economic vibrancy of their communities,” he explains. The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh was also invited to join 20 other American institutions to start the “Wonder Collective” to show families across the country what attractions and assets they all offer.

The 30th birthday celebration runs 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and features:

• Live music from the local Soundwaves Steel Drum Band and Elliott Sussman, who plays ragtime blues, Tin Pan Alley tunes and doo-wop on everything from dobro to banjo, ukulele, dulcimer and autoharp
• Performances by Ben Sota, unicyclist and founder of Zany Umbrella Circus
• Hula hooping with Stefanie Moser of Spinster Hoops, and
• The chance to make birthday hats and die-cut birthday cards in the museum’s studio and musical instruments in its MakeShop. “The kids will come up with their own musical instruments, and we hope everyone bring their instruments to the parade” at 2:00, says Schlageter.

The day is sponsored by the Jack Buncher Foundation.

Writer: Marty Levine

Source: Bill Schlageter, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh