FARMINGTON — Plans for a children’s museum in Western Maine made progress with a recent offer from Franklin Savings Bank to match donations up to $3,000 for startup expenses. 

A site committee for Western Maine Play Museum, working under the museum’s Board of Directors, is currently looking at sites for the museum mainly in Wilton or Jay, organizer Angela McLeod said.

A yearlong capital campaign to raise the funds is being developed for a museum with a target opening in the summer of 2015, she said.

At this point, seed money is needed to help with things like incorporating the museum and legal fees, she added.

“Our local youth need a place to go where they can explore and learn, either by themselves or with their friends, in a safe and friendly atmosphere,” Nicole Knowles, a member of the Children’s Museum Board of Directors, said in a release.

Starting a children’s museum has long been “a dream of mine,” McLeod said. The idea was reinforced after taking her son to the Children’s Museum in Boston.

With a background in social work and community organizing, McLeod realized last summer that she was the person to start it.

She surveyed people locally to see if anyone else had interest and was shocked when more than 200 people responded online in just a couple days, she said. The majority of responses were very positive, with over 80 percent either “extremely interested” or “very interested,” she said.

From that, a small group formed and conducted a feasibility study to collect more information about support for the idea and whether it would be sustainable here. By September, they agreed that it was.

“There’s nothing competing here,” she said. “The area is a desert for this type of business.”

Many parents were looking for birthday rental space, which children’s museum’s frequently have. Along with local interest, tourists have expressed interest in something for children to do in the area, she said.

The museum incorporated in November. A strong, hard-working board of directors, comprised of about one-third educators, one-third business people and one-third various professionals, formed, she said.

A lawyer was hired to help with the incorporation and a Facebook page, Facebook.com/WesternMainePlayMuseum, was created.

Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments became a sponsor in December and agreed to handle funding while the children’s museum pursues a non-profit status through the IRS.

The name for the museum was chosen. With respect for the history of the Western Maine Children’s Museum which operated for about 20 years in Carrabassett Valley, the board changed “children’s” to “play,” she said.

The board has established a vision statement but some of the “nuts and bolts” regarding the site adn the museum’s hours will be decided in the next few months, she said. They will employ some people and be a draw for the community, she added.

The group is looking at sites with about 5,000 to 10,000 square feet to create a museum for children from newborns to elementary schoolers to explore the value of play and learning. Sites in Wilton are currently under consideration.

“Children’s museums tap into the curiosity of how things work,” Knowles said. “The response locally has been overwhelming and we’re confident we have the support to get this project off the ground.”

They are hoping support for the project will develop into donations that will be matched by Franklin Savings to keep the progress going, she said.

Donation checks, payable to Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, can be mailed to Western Maine Play Museum, in care of Nicole Knowles or Angela McLeod, P.O. Box 871, Farmington, ME 04938.

abryant@sunjournal.com