Green Story

After 24 years in Portsmouth, in 2008 the Children’s Museum moved to Dover, where they’ve been ever since. The Children’s Museum – which boasts 16 individual, engaging exhibits – serves as an educational resource for schools, families, and communities and is the State’s most visited cultural attraction. Located in an historic armory in downtown Dover, the Children’s Museum has become a dynamic leader and resource for the community, fostering rich adult-children interactions while serving as a premier regional attraction for families. The playful environment is designed to inspire inquiry and spark imagination for visitors of all ages. With 91,000 visitors annually (half of which are free or reduced admission) – as well as a long list of nonprofit organizations they’ve helped support – clearly the message is being heard.

On top of their robust sense of community and commitment to education, the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire has also taken strides to become one of the greenest of its kind anywhere in the country. Shortly after opening, the Museum was awarded LEED Silver certification, becoming the first museum in the state of New Hampshire to achieve that feat. Beyond having rehabilitated one of Dover’s numerous old mill buildings, the list of the Museum’s impressive (and growing) list of green initiatives include: high performance windows; high-efficiency HVAC systems; low-flow toilets; non-toxic, low VOC paints and finishes; and utilizing materials with recycled content.

For the team at the Children’s Museum, “going green” isn’t just a way to separate themselves from the pack; it’s the right thing to do. As such, they’ve maintained an effort to promote good citizenship practices, as well as to respect younger generations by investing in and promoting sustainability minded initiatives that will assure a clean, green planet well into the future.