The Seuss Effect

 

‘Bold.’

That’s the word Kay Simpson used as she talked about the Springfield Museums’ decision back in 2018 to acquire what she called a “somewhat blighted” property on Chestnut Street, adjacent to its Wood Museum of Springfield History, with the intention of repurposing it into something else.

The property wasn’t actually for sale, she said, but the Museums essentially made it for sale with an offer that ultimately wasn’t refused, with the intention of improving the landscape and creating a far more positive impression of the Quadrangle. And six years later — a timespan lengthened by COVID, rising construction prices, and other factors — that something else is turning into a nod to Dr. Seuss, or his grandparents, to be more precise.

Indeed, Ted Geisel’s grandparents operated a bakery on Howard Street, a site now part of the MGM Springfield footprint. The two former storefronts on Chestnut Street, a liquor store and convenience store, will become a bakery and café, with the latter featuring plant-based foods (more on that later). The venue has been outfitted with a replica of the kind of delivery truck the children’s author’s grandparents might have used.

This latest initiative at the Museums is innovative, entrepreneurial, and, yes, bold, operating traits that have been inspired by, or amplified by, the runaway success that is the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, the importance of which to the Springfield Museums, from the bottom line to exposure nationally and globally, simply cannot be overstated, Simpson said.

“We’ve been using the experience of opening the Dr. Seuss museum and the kind of family engagement that it engendered, and spreading it out all over the Quadrangle.”

“It’s been … monumental,” she told BusinessWest, noting that, before the facility opened in 2017, the Museums had logged operating deficits for several years running. In the one month it was open before the end of FY 2017, it helped balance that year’s budget, she went on, adding that there have been balanced budgets and even surpluses since, at a time when many museums have struggled to come back from COVID.

As for exposure, stories about the RMV offering a new license plate honoring Dr. Seuss and featuring the Cat in the Hat have appeared in news outlets across the country.

But the Seuss museum has done more than enhance visitorship, revenues, and the profile of the Springfield Museums, she went on. It has also helped to inspire a number of new programs to make the Museums more interactive, immersive, accessible, and family-friendly.

“We’ve been using the experience of opening the Dr. Seuss museum and the kind of family engagement that it engendered, and spreading it out all over the Quadrangle,” Simpson said, adding that this has always been the case with the Springfield Science Museum (for which there are some intriguing new initiatives in various stages of development), but now extends to all corners of the museum complex.

“When we look at any of our museums, the work that we’re trying to do now is really about making them interactive, making them more participatory, and using the points of accessibility,” she went on, adding that Dr. Seuss has helped make the museums more accessible because he is a worldwide brand associated with fun. “People feel like there’s something to see and do when they’re here at the Museums.”

Cynthia Campbell, chair of the Museums’ board of directors and a 10-year member, agreed.

“The impact of opening the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum really marked a transformative point for the Museums,” she explained, noting that it has not only doubled overall attendance and led to other Seuss-related opportunities, from the license plate to to a growing Grinchmas celebration, but it has inspired efforts for more innovative and immersive exhibits and programs, including the ambitious upgrades to Dinosaur Hall, including an animatronic T-rex.

Dr. Mark Keroack, the recently retired president and CEO of Baystate Health and longtime Museums board member, concurred.

“The board embarked on the first strategic plan in recent memory about three years ago, and one of the key things we did was to pivot the mission of the Museums and pivot it away from being just a sanctuary for beautiful things to defining its success by the experience of the people who come there,” he said. “There’s an interest in making sure we’re contemporary and relevant, and that we’re appealing to more diverse audiences, particularly in the city of Springfield but also beyond.”

For this issue and its focus on tourism, we take an in-depth look at how the Springfield Museums have caught a Seuss-inspired wave of momentum, innovation, and entrepreneurship, and how those traits are taking the complex to new places — and new heights.

 

Entrepreneurship on Display

They’re called Free First Wednesdays, or FFWs for short. The name tells you all you need to know.

Admission to the Museums is free the first Wednesday of every month, said Simpson, noting that the FFW on Aug. 7, which drew 1,723 visitors, was the best-attended since the program was launched in January with the help of a three-year, $800,000 grant from the Art Bridges Foundation, founded by Alice Walton, an heiress to the Walmart fortune.

“There’s an interest in making sure we’re contemporary and relevant, and that we’re appealing to more diverse audiences, particularly in the city of Springfield but also beyond.”

Those visitors were treated to Olympics-themed activities, as well as exhibitions and permanent displays, Simpson explained, adding that the Zip code capture in the Welcome Center confirmed that, in addition to strong participation from Connecticut and Massachusetts, visitors also came California, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and other states.

The Free First Wednesdays are just one example of how the Museums have become … let’s say even more innovative and entrepreneurial. Others include initiatives like the Grinch’s Grotto in the SIS Hall of the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History for the months of November, December, and early January. Featuring an array of thematic, interactive displays, it “adds another layer to the Seuss experience at the Museums,” Simpson noted.

“After opening the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum we started thinking of ways to use some of the other spaces in our buildings for large, immersive exhibitions that have broad appeal,” she said, adding that a good example of this is the SIS Hall in the history museum, which has played host to not only Grinch’s Grotto, but other programs and family-friendly exhibitions as well, including a Big Games Big Fun event and a Barbie Day, which capitalized on the excitement of the 2023 movie.

Currently, the space is hosting “Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum,” an exhibit that brings to life the acclaimed PBS KIDS TV series, which follows the adventures of Xavier and his little sister Yadina and best friend Brad as they tackle everyday problems by traveling back in time to learn from real-life inspirational figures.

“We’ve witnessed many museums struggling and, in fact, closing their doors. Thankfully, we were able to survive that and not only survive — we’re thriving.”

There’s also the Live Animal Center in the Science Museum. With more than $500,000 in funding from a federal earmark and other sources, the tanks in the center have been completely renovated, and new interactive displays are being installed.

Then there’s the new Chestnut Street Café and Bakery, to be operated by the owners of Pulse Café, the 100% plant-based eatery in Hadley, with a soft opening planned for early September.

Funded in part by Leagrey Dimond, Geisel’s stepdaughter, the bakery and café, created at a cost of more than $1 million, will reactivate that space in a way that will bring another dining option to not only Museum visitors, but those who work downtown and the growing numbers of people living there as well.

“I think it’s really exciting that we’re bringing this to downtown Springfield,” she said, adding that the café will be a solid addition to the menu of downtown dining options — and something decidedly different.

It’s also just another example of the Museums being entrepreneurial, innovative, inclusive, and willing to take on new initiatives (and the accompanying risks) at a time when many museums are still struggling in the wake of COVID and doing more hanging on than being bold.

Campbell agreed. She said the Quadrangle’s deep portfolio of museums — it’s been called a mini-Smithsonian because of the variety — not to mention the huge boost from the Seuss museum, provide it with advantages that most museums simply don’t have.

“We’ve witnessed many museums struggling and, in fact, closing their doors,” she told BusinessWest. “Thankfully, we were able to survive that and not only survive — we’re thriving.”

 

Exhibiting Boldness

There are many other examples of innovation, interactivity, and inclusion, said those we spoke with, including efforts in the history museum to move beyond the displays of cars, motorcycles, and firearms manufactured in Springfield and use the facility not only for more family-friendly exhibits and programs like Grinch’s Grotto and Hasbro Game Land, but also telling the stories of the people who have lived here and do now.

“We want to do more to tell the story of Springfield and its people,” Simpson said, adding that these efforts are very much a work in process, with grants to be pursued for various initiatives. “Previously, we focused on industry and objects, but I think it’s really important, especially as the city changes, and as part of the work we’re doing with inclusion, to tell all of the stories, starting with Indigenous people, but also historic Black Springfield, the Latino population and the growth of that community, as well as other communities.

“It’s a reinterpretation of the history that is told in the Wood museum,” she went on. “People relate to people, so we need to integrate that into what is being presented in that museum.”

Meanwhile, and as noted earlier, one of the key focal points of the current strategic plan is the Science Museum, said Keroack, noting there have been many improvements and more on the way.

Keroack grew up in Springfield, and in his youth, he was a frequent visitor to the Museums and especially the Science Museum.

“I was a bit of a nerd,” he recalled, adding that he was drawn to the fish tanks, dioramas, and physical exhibits. That museum remains a real draw for young people, he said, but it has been in need of a refresh, as he called it, and it is getting one.

The planetarium has been completely renovated, noted Simpson, adding that while the Korkosz projector — the oldest operating American-made projector in the world — is still used in the planetarium presentation, the facility now boasts a full-dome video system, creating immersive experiences in astronomy and earth science.

Meanwhile, the Museums were recently granted the long-term loan of a large, touch-screen, interactive virtual tour of the International Space Station.

“The second floor of the Science Museum has been progressively transformed,” said Simpson, adding that there are plans for a reimagined dinosaur experience that has many moving parts, literally and figuratively.

The experience will start before visitors enter the front door of the Welcome Center, she noted, adding that a large T-rex will appear to burst out of the exterior wall of the building, setting the tone for play and learning. Two smaller juveniles will appear to congregate near the doors, inviting visitor engagement.

Once inside the Welcome Center, visitors will hear the dinosaurs even as they get their admission tickets, she went on, adding that visitors will enter a completely renovated Dinosaur Hall, which will feature a new, animatronic T-rex that moves and roars. It will be surrounded by hatching baby dinosaurs hidden behind simulated reeds, which visitors can discover as they move through the hall.

Meanwhile, important fossils will be showcased in the renovated space to help tell stories of local paleontology. An elevated observation deck will enable visitors to walk around the T-rex as well as to look down on the exhibitions, allowing for a high level of interactivity.

From Dinosaur Hall, visitors will enter an immersive display that explores archosaurs, the animal group from which dinosaurs evolved. The exhibit will feature flying dinosaurs, erupting volcanoes, and interactive games that connect dinosaurs to current life on earth.

“The overarching goal of the new, reimagined dinosaur experience is to establish the Science Museum as home to the flagship dinosaur destination in New England, as well as the regional center for STEM education,” Simpson explained. “We anticipate that we will increase our annual attendance by 25% with our enhanced dinosaur experience.”

Campbell agreed, noting that the Science Museum is the second-most popular attraction at the Quadrangle behind the Seuss museum, and the planned improvements could generate another significant boost in visitorship.

And another way to tell prospective visitors, “oh, the places you’ll go.”