Boca Raton Will Move Ahead With Relocation of Historic Children’s Museum

Singing Pines Children’s Museum, Sept. 2024. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Boca Raton’s historic Children’s Museum will soon be on the move – literally.

The city council last week voted in favor of overruling a determination by its own Historic Preservation Board, paving the way for the physical building to be moved from its current location at 498 Crawford Boulevard – adjacent to the Huxhold Skate Park – to Meadows Park at 1300 NW 8th Street.

The Crawford Boulevard location has been identified as a future site for a city administration building. Meadows Park, meanwhile, complies with the standards to host a historic building, and its relocation will allow the museum to reopen and be part of a larger complex with amenities children can enjoy, officials said. There were also some misunderstandings regarding the museum, which was already moved from its original location to Crawford Boulevard.

“A lot of the comments online were about moving Singing Pines off this ‘historic’ site when it was actually moved to this site,” said Councilwoman Yvette Drucker, who was a volunteer at the museum and its nearby garden before she was an elected member of council. “The big goal for us – me personally – is to open up the museum and use it. It was closed in 2018 because of the umbrella over the museum. Singing Pines was rejuvenated by the Junior League of Boca, and I’m a part of that.”

Singing Pines Children’s Museum, Sept. 2024. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Singing Pines Children’s Museum, Sept. 2024. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Singing Pines Children’s Museum, Sept. 2024. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

The Historic Preservation Board denied the city’s application to move the building because board members felt it would be less visible at the park, but mainly because they felt a government building would change the character of the existing location, and the museum should be integrated into the new structures that will be built around it.

Mayor Scott Singer said the building – not the land under it – was designated a historic site in 1988. Moving the building to Meadows Park, in addition to freeing up space for a potential administration building, would be a more inviting environment, he said.

“I know people place a value on going to that museum in the same place it was before – I had my son’s third birthday there – but Meadows Park is a great location for it,” said Singer. “It’s in the center of the city and there is significantly more parking. I think we all want to see the facility thrive, and unfortunately it hasn’t.”

Singing Pines Children’s Museum, Sept. 2024. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Singing Pines Children’s Museum, Sept. 2024. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Meadows Park would also provide more opportunities for educational tours.

“We’ve had some challenges with it, but I think we’re all committed to seeing it move to a new location, and I think this enhances the historic value,” he said.

The council also adopted a measure that would reduce the mandatory waiting period for moving a historic structure from six months to three months.