Northern California Engineering Contractors Association
helps CMOSC expand parking lot

In collaboration with the Northern California Engineering Contractors Association (ECA), the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County (CMOSC) will create four new ADA parking spaces and expand the parking lot at the Santa Rosa campus.

After opening the interior galleries in June 2015, CMOSC began to see double the daily attendance.  With an average of over 400 guests per day, the Museum 86-space parking lot often fills up by 11am each day.  As an outstanding neighbor and local business, T&B Sports graciously allows CMOSC traffic to overflow into its back parking area so that guests can use the sidewalk to walk to the Museum.  But with two acres north of the CMOSC galleries, the Museum began to explore expanding parking on-site.

A meeting with John Bly of the Northern California ECA in August 2014 opened discussion about the group possibly being able to offset some of the estimated $80,000 in costs to reconfigure the four ADA parking and expand the current parking lot towards the north.  As land tenants of the Charles M. Schulz Museum, CMOSC also met with the Schulz Museum team to discuss possible solutions.

In January 2016, Jean Schulz agreed to CMOSC adding more parking capacity on-site.  In February 2016, Northern California ECA named the Children’s Museum one of their fundraising beneficiaries with a focus on the parking lot project.  As a result, plans are moving ahead to add 40 more parking spaces and relocate four ADA parking spaces.  The scope of work provided by Northern California ECA is still undetermined with some of it coming in the form of discounts and some inkind of labor and materials. These tenant improvements will better serve Children’s Museum guests and improve the visitor experience. 

Construction is scheduled to begin the second week of March 2016 with estimated completion within thirty (30) days.  The public is invited to Groundbreaking Ceremony to kickoff the project on Thursday, March 3 at 12pm in the parking lot of the Children’s Museum.

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Northern California Engineering Contractors Association and its Board of Directors, has been the voice of the engineering construction industry for the past thirty-three years.  The foundation of the ECA has been to address local needs and issues. The ECA is different from most construction organizations in that it does not deal with union labor issues but welcomes both union and non-union contractors as members.

The purpose and goal of ECA and its staff is to provide services to the members that help them run their businesses safely, efficiently, and in compliance with the many rules and regulations and mandates of government.

For more information, please visit www.nceca.org.

Children’s Museum of Sonoma County is a non-profit organization located at 1835 West Steele Lane in Santa Rosa, California.

The museum invites children and their families from all walks of life to explore and learn about science, art and the natural world. The museum includes an indoor science and imagination gallery, a tot area, a private birthday party and event venue, an arts center, as well as outdoor exhibits that showcase the diversity of Sonoma County, including a scale Russian River, stand of redwood trees, farm area and interactive butterfly garden.

The mission of the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County’s is to inspire children’s creativity and stimulate their curiosity to discover the world through playful exploration of the arts and sciences.

Open Wednesday-Monday, 9am-4pm.  For more information, visit www.cmosc.org.

Press Release

February 28, 2016

Contact:
Collette Michaud, CEO
Children’s Museum of Sonoma County
Tel: 707-546-4069
collette@cmosc.org