Page 196 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2015

LIVING HISTORY happy birthday
DISCOVER THE FUN
Lynn Meadows Discovery Center building celebrates 100 years
story by Ed Lepoma photos by James Edward Bates and courtesy of Lynn Meadows Discovery Center
Few public schools have
a lifespan of 50 years,
much less 100. Some
are abandoned as the population shifts and larger schools are built elsewhere.
Others are bulldozed to make way for a new, more modern facility. The Mississippi City Elementary School building is celebrating 100 years of existence this year. It has survived abandonment and hurricanes and now stands as the centerpiece for the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center in Gulfport.
The Center will celebrate 100 years of educating children on September 20. There will be free admission, special guests and games from different eras. Cake, food and beverages will be available for purchase.
The Gulfport School District abandoned the old school house and gymnasium in 1977 after surviving classmates gathered to mark the
50th anniversary. It sat idle and deteriorating for the most part. “I think one room was set aside for occasional meetings, but otherwise
it sat vacant,” said Cindy DeFrances, executive director of the Discovery Center.
The abandoned school found a new life in 1991 when Discovery Center co- founders Carole Lynn Meadows and Rose Alman acquired the property and involved the community in the project from its inception. With seed money from an appropriation from the
state legislature
and generous donations from area civic and business organizations, they raised the money needed to restore the two-story building and turn it into a children’s museum, the first to be established in Mississippi. The doors opened in May 1998.
The response was overwhelmingly favorable and today the museum draws thousands of local visitors and others from Hattiesburg, Mobile, New Orleans and tourists with children who are here from many areas of the United States and Europe.
The Museum offers 15,000 square feet of indoor exhibit space. The campus provides six acres of outdoor play space, including a tree house village, a wooden cabin, a child-size train and a picnic area.
Teri Strauss Gandour serves as director of development and beamed as she gave a personal tour of the hands-on exhibits offering exciting play time, rain or shine for children. The old school house was filled with squeals of delight and laughter by the children visiting on that day.
The exhibits encourage children and visitors to touch, talk, have fun and learn. “This is why I love coming
to work every day,” she said as she observed the happy children at play.
An art studio encourages children to be creative, and at the Dolan Avenue Depot children buy a ticket and board a wooden train. In the market
exhibit,
196 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • September 2015 FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net