MORRIS TWP. – The nonprofit Museum of Makers + Innovators (MOMI) is planning to build a community park in the under-construction Morris Marketplace shopping center at the corner of East Hanover Avenue and Martin Luther King Avenue, adjacent to the Hanover Township border.
This project would be the state’s first “thinkscape” and would offer educational games for children.
MOMI will need to raise $100,000 to build the new installation and has launched a fundraising campaign. To donate or become a sponsor, visit www.thinkmomi.org/park.
The park, “Morris Marketplace THINKSCAPE,” is planned to include six innovative playful learning spaces.
Children would be able to tell a story at the Story Spinner, play a matching game at the Memory Match, jump through the Playful Path, meander through the Red Pole Forest, explore the sounds in the Sound Garden with musical flowers, and explore the properties of water at the Creative Canvas.
“When my kids were younger, we would take them to children’s museums wherever we would travel,” said former Morris Township Mayor Jeffrey Grayzel, a MOMI board member. “When the opportunity arose to work with the developer of the Morris Marketplace to incorporate a community park into the design, we jumped on it … I am excited that MOMI will build its first installations at this new park to benefit the children and their families in the surrounding community.”
“Once we heard about the park and had initial discussions with the developer and the township, we just knew we had to get involved,” said MOMI Co-founder Nicole Pittaluga, a Morris Township resident.
The MOMI team collaborated with the Playful Learning Landscapes Action Network, a nationwide think tank of early childhood researchers and policymakers, and partnered with Morris Township and DeVimy Equities, the developer of Morris Marketplace.
“Research shows that multi-generational learning, through child and caregiver engagement, builds important life skills and connections that last longer and help shape educational attitudes towards learning outside of the classroom,” said MOMI co-founder Sara Sorenson. “And what better place to create more joyful, and inclusive and equitable learning experiences for all ages but in an outdoor shopping mall where families routinely gather. As a parent I know first-hand the challenges of shopping with small children and having a place that combines errands, entertainment and learning is truly helpful.”
When the mall was announced, MOMI reached out to the developer to ask if they could partner on the park included in the plans. The mall’s vision was to create a place that could be seen as a town square, a destination that connects communities across the region. MOMI suggested incorporating creative placemaking, elements of a children’s museum, and the daily routine of shopping and dining.
Designs of the community park are nearly complete thanks to a $10,000 grant in seed funding from a local family foundation.