Latest news with #Children'sMuseum&TheatreofMaine
Daily Mail
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Controversial rule at popular Maine children's museum outrages childless local - do you agree with it?
A popular children's museum in Portland, Maine, doesn't allow entry to adults who don't have kids with them, a policy that angered a local newspaper columnist who had been hoping to pay the place a visit. Leslie Bridgers, a writer for the Portland Press Herald, was shocked she was turned away when she tried to buy a ticket for the Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine. She said she had been wanting to go for a while and had passed up multiple opportunities to go with her friends who do have families, mainly because she 'didn't want to have to go at their pace or wind up watching their children.' 'I wanted to check out the exhibits that interested me, skip the ones that didn't and leave when I felt like it — you know, enjoy it the way I do anything as a childless adult,' she wrote in her Monday column. She explained that she finally came up with the perfect excuse to go alone; she could bring her reporter's notebook and write a piece about whether the museum was worth the $18 admission. According to her column, the museum's 'unaccompanied adults' policy was put in place because of 'security concerns' and to prevent adults from taking up tickets on busy days that could have went to children. The museum's executive director, Julie Butcher Pezzino, said she was 'a little surprised that this was a news story' given that this kind of policy is very common for children's museums around the country. Pezzino also told she wasn't aware of any 'security concerns' that led to the museum disallowing adults without children. In fact, that policy has been in place there for last six or seven years, she said. 'We focus on children who come with their parents or guardians,' she said, adding that 'there was no particular incident' that spurred the museum to bar childless adults. 'It was more in keeping with what other children's museums were doing at the time,' Butcher Pezzino explained. In her column, Bridgers even noted that other kid-friendly attractions around the country, including LEGOLAND Discovery Centers, children's rooms at libraries and playground areas at parks, often have policies that ban childless adults. In her attempt to find a reason for her local children's museum not letting her in, Bridgers stumbled upon a 2015 law review article in the National Recreation and Park Association's magazine. It talked about how in Hollywood, Florida, local government officials banned adults unaccompanied by minors from entering or remaining in a park playground area. The article claimed that one Hollywood commissioner wondered if the new rule 'might draw legal challenges' but claimed it 'will put a little dent into getting rid of the undesirables in the park.' Another commissioner then reportedly argued that the ordinance would protect kids from sex offenders 'that have not been caught yet.' Bridgers took this to mean that playgrounds in Florida (and the museum in Maine) have adopted discriminatory policies that profile people based on how 'creepy' they look. 'In other words, because you can't ban someone for looking creepy, then why not adopt rules (with backhanded reasoning) to keep away categories of people who you think are most likely to be,' Bridgers wrote. She further claimed that the no childless adult policy 'sounds kind of like' how the Trump administration terminated a $250,000 grant to the children's museum that would have been used to fund programs teaching kids about the history of the Wabanaki, a Native American tribe that is primarily in Maine. The museum clarified that adults can attend certain events on their own, including theatrical performances, staff-led tours by appointment and its Imagination Ball fundraiser on May 9, with tickets starting at $125. Butcher Pezzino said she was disappointed in Bridgers' article for not putting enough emphasis on the tours open to adults and not mentioning the museum's annual Halloween event that's for people 21 and older. Bridgers briefly mentioned the Halloween party, not by name though, and linked back to a previous article that covered the 2022 event, which reportedly drew 300 costumed guests. 'I also was aware of the adults-only parties at the museum, but I wasn't interested in making a social outing out of it either. Even though I knew it might be awkward, I just wanted to walk around on my own,' Bridgers wrote.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Want to visit Maine's children's museum? You'll need a kid with you
Apr. 28—Ever since I saw the first colorful photos from inside the impressive new Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine when it relocated to Thompson's Point in 2021, I figured someday I'd find a reason to check it out in person, even though I don't have kids. There have been opportunities I've let pass, like when friends have been with their families, but I didn't want to have to go at their pace or wind up watching their children. I wanted to check out the exhibits that interested me, skip the ones that didn't and leave when I felt like it — you know, enjoy it the way I do anything as a childless adult. I also was aware of the adults-only parties at the museum, but I wasn't interested in making a social outing out of it either. Even though I knew it might be awkward, I just wanted to walk around on my own. Realizing there were probably other people like me, I found my excuse to finally buy a ticket: I could write about the experience and let others know whether it's worth the price of admission ($18) for adults to go alone. Plus, having a pen and reporter's notebook would help shield me from any sideways glances. I bravely decided to visit during school vacation week this month, assuming that's as intolerable as it could get for a lone grown-up. If it was worth it then, it would be worth it anytime. But, when I went to book my single ticket, I found out I couldn't: The museum doesn't admit adults who don't have a child with them. What in the JD Vance kind of policy is this, I wondered. After being able to rent a car, I assumed my age wasn't going come into play at any place of business until I qualified for senior discounts, and I never suspected my childlessness would hinder me from doing what I wanted. That's pretty much the whole point of not having kids. I reached out to the children's museum hoping to hear an explanation about the need for the policy that would appease me, but instead got some vague reasoning about its children-first mission and unspecified safety concerns. I don't buy the argument that "unaccompanied adults," as the policy calls us, would get in the way of children's play or take up tickets from kids who wanted them during busy days, as spokesperson Shultzie Fay Willows suggested. Is the museum really worried that curious adults could start coming in droves and shoving kids out of the way to get to the exhibits? Plus, we just as easily could take up a child's place in line by glomming onto a group. Something wasn't being said, so I turned to the Arlington, Virginia-based Association of Children's Museums, of which the Maine museum is a member, and asked how common these policies are and why museums might adopt them. The answers I got were "fairly common" and, again, concerns around children's safety, including that the spaces are built for kids, but nothing else specific. I have faith that adults without children could adhere to any size limits for equipment — whether they're posted as rules or made obvious by observation — as I'm sure parents and chaperones, as well as older children or adults with developmental disabilities (who are allowed at the Maine children's museum with an aide) already have to do. Is this really a reason to exclude such a large swath of people? There are other places with similar policies — LEGO Discovery Centers, children's rooms at libraries and playground areas at parks. In looking for explanations behind them, I found a 2015 article in the National Recreation and Park Association's magazine that offered some insight. While the written purpose of an ordinance in Hollywood, Florida, banning adults without children from public playgrounds was to ensure the equipment was available to kids, it said, comments by public officials indicated it was really to address parents' concerns about sex offenders and "undesirable" or strange-looking people in the parks. In other words, because you can't ban someone for looking creepy, then why not adopt rules (with backhanded reasoning) to keep away categories of people who you think are most likely to be. Sounds kind of like the policies of someone else we know, who recently dealt the children's museum an unpleasant surprise by terminating a grant for Wabanaki programs. I can think of some legitimate reasons for prohibiting adults from the children's museum, like maybe not wanting a bachelor party thinking it would be a fun stop after a few beers at Bissell Brothers, but if that's what the museum is thinking, it wouldn't say. The museum was hoping I could keep the focus on the opportunities adults do have to visit on their own, including at theatrical performances, staff-led tours and, namely, its Imagination Ball fundraiser on May 9, with tickets starting at $100. I'm not desperate enough to see this place to arrange for a chaperone or give up my Friday night for it, but if you do, I hope it's worth it. Copy the Story Link
