15/10/2021
When life throws a global pandemic at you, you adapt, you pivot, you dig deep and try your very best but at the end of the day you need to make difficult and tough decisions.
We are heartbroken to announce that Interaxcity Children’s Museum will not be re-opening.
This tough decision is due to the six successive lockdowns and the 348 days+ of mandated closure (with zero trading revenues). Combined with the high level of continuing uncertainty around future restrictions and lockdowns, it is simply commercially and financially impractical to continue.
The entire team at Interaxcity Children's Museum is so proud to have brought our mini city of imagination to life and had the opportunity to introduce Victorians to the first ever dedicated Children's Museum concept. What we have created since launching in April 2019 has exceeded all expectations. Every day our doors have been allowed to open, we have had the privilege of welcoming hundreds of thousands of local, interstate, and overseas visitors and have witnessed the most incredible moments shared between our big and small Community Heroes.
Our mini city of imagination provided the magic we had envisioned. Despite the pandemic we nailed our vision, lived and breathed our core values every day and exceeded our objectives.
Some of our proud achievements.....
• #1 on Time Out Things to do with kids in Melbourne
• Top 35 Best Family Experiences in Australia 2021
• Incredible visitor reviews
• Inclusive: Every child welcomed, every day
• 100's of parties and events
• 1000's of ELC and primary students excursions
• Never denied a child the opportunity to visit via our Giving and Gratitude Foundation, supporting several local community groups: AUSLAN, Challenge Cancer, Interchange, Very Special Kids, Sisterworks, Foster groups, just to name a few
• Approached by two global brands for collaboration
Thank you for embracing our children's museum concept and for the overwhelming support and kindness we've received, especially as we navigated the past 18 months.
After the first lockdown, we had no idea if families, schools and community groups would return. But you did! Over and over again and despite capacity restrictions, we were able to remain financially viable whenever our doors were allowed to open. We are ever so appreciative & grateful for everyone who visited.
Now however it's time press pause.
With so much uncertainty and limited confidence in being able to operate without any further interruptions and ongoing restrictions, we have made the only realistic decision to close our purple door.
Our hope is that one day, when it's completely safe, when isolation is a word of the past and there is absolutely no possibility of any temporary business closures, we can reopen to welcome back the incredible generations of Melbourne kids who endured 18+ months of stop-start lockdowns, lost playdates, excursions, parties and a mountain of missed learning and social interaction opportunities.
The 2020-gen babies and their older peers deserve a place to enjoy pretend play and serious fun in an inclusive and safe way.
We loved sharing our magical mini city of imagination with you. Until we see you again, stay healthy, safe and keep smiling.
