By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The InspireU Children’s Discovery Center in downtown St. Joseph opened six months ago, and in that time have been blown away by the community support.
Director Katherine Patterson Paronto says the museum has seen 49,663 visitors through its doors, which she says is phenomenal
“We did all our calculations based on 60,000 people coming through the doors a year,” Patterson Paronto tells the KFEQmunnity. “And so, we’re almost at 50,000, which means we’ve just been doing way better than we expected, the response has been fabulous.”
Patterson Paronto says many of those visitors are members who bring in their children sometimes once or twice a week.
And Patterson Paronto says there is one consistent thing they have seen from the parents bringing their children in
“One of the things that we noticed as a staff is we don’t see a lot of people on their phones, they’re really playing together,” Patterson Paronto explains. “And we’ve got lots of great experiences where the adult can sit down and relax and the kid can play with them and both of them are just getting this wonderful experience together and growing and connecting.”
Patterson Paronto has worked in other museums and says one thing that makes this one great is the community support, but also says it’s unique because it can’t really be anywhere else
“It’s very, very much St. Joe and the region, and that really sets it apart from a lot of other discovery centers,” Patterson Paronto says.
And there’s another aspect to the discovery center that sets it apart she adds
“Not only are we talking about high quality play for families to connect and enjoy each other’s company and grow, but also we have health related goals,” Patterson Paronto points out.
InspireU is open every Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm and on Sundays from noon to 5pm. You can find more information on tickets on their website.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.