Port Huron’s Discovery City Children’s Museum proves the perfect addition to downtown

Port Huron’s Discovery City Children's Museum officially opened on October 15 near downtown and is already drawing people from across the Blue Water Area. The exhibits are made for children up to 10 years old and feature areas such as an interactive shopping market, a Lego area, and a fire truck exhibit, among others.

The museum is located at 317 Grand River Avenue in Port Huron. Admission is $7 and free for children under one year old. Membership passes are also being sold that allow for unlimited visits. Parents are required to supervise their children at all times during each visit.
Lego area in Discovery City Children's Museum.
“It’s local and affordable,” says Danielle Eastwood as she watched her daughter play. “I love it. I’m sold already. This is so clean and well-maintained. The staff are great. It’s really well done and offers educated play areas. It’s all hands-on and really friendly.” 

Discounts are also available for those with EBT/WIC cards, military and school personnel, first responders, and senior citizens. The museum will be open on Tuesday and Thursday from noon to 6 pm. On Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday it will be open from 10 am to 4 pm. Sunday’s hours are noon to 4 p.m. It will be closed on Mondays.

The museum is inside the formerly known Knowlton Ice Museum. The idea for the children’s museum came from the success of a smaller Discovery City in Port Huron Museum’s Carnegie Center from 2021 to 2023. The Port Huron City Council leased the building with the Community Foundation of St. Clair County for three years. Operations are now under the banner of the Port Huron Parks and Recreation Department. 

“The Community Foundation simply owns the building because of the generosity of Mickey and Agnes Knowlton,” says Community Foundation Vice President Jackie Hanton. “We had a few years of time before the Knowlton ice collection comes back out for public viewing and the City of Port Huron had the vision for the exhibits and the staffing. So it’s a city project that we have been happy to help a few donors support with grants.”

The City of Port Huron also raised more than $500,000 to bring everything together. 

“I think the fact that we have a children’s museum is wonderful,” says Port Huron Mayor Pauline Repp. “It’s such a good attraction for our community and something the younger children enjoy. We had spoken previously about having activities for younger children in the wintertime. There are so many things going on during the summer months. But we found that there was a lack of activities in the winter months for children. We are hoping this helps fill in the gap. We are also hoping that schools will bring children in from around our area and even the Metro Area for field trips. I think this is going to be a boost overall to Port Huron.” 

Michael Sheldon and his daughter Ember inside Port Huron's new Discovery City Children’s Museum.

Michael Sheldon of Port Huron is a local parent who is always looking for new things to do with his daughter Ember. He recently took time after work to check out the exhibits and walked away happily impressed.

“It’s very nice to see how this all came together,” Sheldon says. “It’s hard to get my daughter to want to leave. She is having so much fun. She absolutely loves it. It’s quite a few activities and a lot for her to do. They are learning activities. That’s something that’s very important. You find so many different stations and they all are set up to complement the different learning abilities.

“My wife and daughter have already been here twice and we have already got an annual membership. It’s such an enjoyable time to come here with my family and learn something new. It’s something that we look forward to. We are going to continue coming and having fun together.”

Discovery City Children’s Museum continues looking for ways to engage with the community. The space is large enough for parties and all sorts of group events and the staff hopes to get the word out in the upcoming months.

“We are excited and we hope that people continue to visit us,” says Director Dawn Schweihofer. “We hope that we see schools bring their students also in for trips. And hopefully we are able to touch the entire community.”