Our History

Phase One Completed!

For the last five years a small, local group has presented the need and desire for an interactive children's museum to educate and entertain Visalia and it's surrounding cities.

During this time, ImagineU, has focused on establish a credible organization, not an actual children's museum.

A non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization, governed by the Board of Directors, was established in 2002.
A variety of dedicated people, and supportive organizations, have provided their time, talent, and money to govern, promote, and manage the day-to-day operations of this organization.
We have also worked with the United Way to produce an organization that the community could trust.
Through the generosity of Giant Chevrolet, a small site was provided which has served as an office and a place to promote the idea of a children's museum to the community.

Our current location was never meant to be a working children's museum. The exhibits that have been displayed over the years were created as examples of interactive exhibits.

And now, after five years of smiles, tears, successes and mistakes, we feel it is time to tackle our next goal - to establish an interactive children's museum.

Phase Two - Create a Children's Museum!

To date, over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars have been raised for the construction of a permanent home. The City of Visalia has provided a location for the museum in the vicinity of the future City Hall. And a schematic plan of this new home has been developed by NTD Architecture.

In order to focus on this next phase, the previous money and time needed to manage our temporary home will be redirected to the construction of a permanent home. The changes that will take place include:

Reducing the public hours of operation at the site on East Main Street to the following :

Open to the public on Thursday's and Friday's from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM only. (Limited access may also be granted on other days by appointment only.)
These hours will remain in effect during January, February, and March 2008. In April, we will re-evaluate these hours of operation.

Our Executive Director, Angela Huerta-Reyna, will be focusing most of her time and energy on the objectives needed to make Phase Two a success.

How you can help?

If you, your business, or organization have been involved in the past, we need your ongoing support and commitment. We would not be here today without you!

If you have wanted to get involved but have not done so yet:

Make a donation to our Capital Campaign Fund.
Join our team of professionals who are raising funds for the museum's permanent home.
Talk to your organization, business, etc. about becoming involved.
Volunteer your time or talents.
Spread the word. Many still don't know about this effort to create a children's museum.

If you have any desire to help establish a permanent children's museum, now is the time to act.

If our community stands behind this dream we will succeed!

Rendering of our future building.

View a larger rendering of our new museum

View our schematic plan

Outline of our Goals

Phase One - Establish Credibility:

Receive non-profit status for ImagineU Children's Museum.
Promote the need for a children's museum in our area.
Develop community support.
Establish enough credibility to apply for large grants needed to move into Phase Two.

Phase Two - Create a Children's Museum:

Raise the money needed to buy or build a home for the children's museum.
Obtain property or location for the museum.
Create an architectural design for a community children's museum.
Build a home for a children's museum.

Phase Three - Open to the public:

Develop required staffing.
Establishing initial exhibits.
Promote the new museum.