When Josephine Randall, San Francisco's first superintendent of recreation, wanted to create a place where children could learn about the environment in a hands-on approach back in 1937, her only location option in Corona Heights, California, was the the city's old jail on Ocean Avenue. While the Randall Museum moved in 1951, it is set for another makeover.
Scott Weiner, on the state board of supervisors, said in a statement that a $6 million grant was approved in 2011, which will pay for the construction costs to double the area of the exhibit and programming space.
The most popular exhibit is the live animal room where kids can walk right into a pen with rabbits, chickens and ducks and see other native creatures. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, that will close until 2015 so the area can be redesigned with a more natural look. Also, a geology and zoology exhibit will also be added. Renovated classrooms will allow for more of the unique programming that draws nearly 100,000 visitors a year.
"This is the only place in the city where kids and adults can go to a woodworking shop together," Chris Boettcher, Randall's executive director, told the Chronicle. "The bulk of it hasn't changed since the 1950s."
The news source added that this is the largest grant the city has received from the California Department of Parks and Recreation under Proposition 84 in 2006, which allocated $5.4 billion to foster environmental awareness programs.
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