Boca Children’s Museum to honor birthday of its home at ‘Singing Pines’
July 17th, 2008
By Dale M. King
CITY EDITOR
The Boca Raton Children’s Museum has some big doin’s in its future.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing is the upcoming 95th birthday of the “Singing Pines” house – the building that houses the 30-year-old museum.
Executive Director Poppi Mercier said the museum is already gearing up for a 95th birthday celebration of one of Boca’s oldest houses.
The Singing Pines celebration scheduled for October will coincide with a look back at Boca’s pioneer history. The exhibition heralding the days of Boca’s founding fathers turns out to be the first display that “is for kids and about kids,” said Mercier.
Also on the museum’s plate is the first phase of expansion. The Crawford Boulevard campus of the museum will begin to take on the aspects of a “village green,” she said. “You’ll feel like you’re living in Boca 100 years ago – at least architecturally.”
In honor of the Singing Pines house, the museum will set up a display called “Children of the Pioneers,” celebrating the imagination of children during the better part of a century.
Among those taking part in the celebration will be Diane Benedetto. “She has written a book on what it was like to be a kid in the pioneer days of Boca Raton,” said Mercier.
Memorabilia Closet
During the exhibition, the museum will set up a display called “Imogene’s Closet,” using Benedetto’s birth name, Imogene Gates. The small room will be filled with memorabilia – toys and clothing – all from the pioneer era.
Mercier said there also will be historic photos of that time period – one, she said, which is of particular interest. “It shows the aftermath of a hurricane in the 1920s,” Mercier said. “Everything is devastated, but the Singing Pines House is still standing.”
“Singing Pines” got its name from Lillian Race Williams. She and her parents owned and inhabited the property formerly located at 301 SW First Ave. for 60 years.
Originally built by William Myrick on property purchased from Henry M. Flagler’s Model Land Company, the Myricks became a part of the 13-family community of Boca Raton around 1913. Mercier said the history of early Boca Raton is related by the Myricks and through Lillian Williams’ poetic verse that gives the house its name.
All this interest in history doesn’t mean the museum isn’t acknowledging the future. Phase II of its expansion will bring a new building to the campus – “The Voyager,” which Mercier said will “use designs from H.G. Wells and Jules Verne.”
It will be a “high-tech house,” she said, with a mini-Imax theater. There will also be computer labs that give children a chance to create science projects and make films, among other things.
In what she described as “guided workshops,” Mercier said, “the kids will have an interesting experience.”
Dale M. King can be reached at 561-549-0832 or at dking@bocanews.com.
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