Two Forsyth County nonprofits are combining into one organization. The Children's Museum of Winston-Salem and SciWorks made the announcement earlier Thursday. A new location for a joint museum downtown is also being discussed.
SciWorks and the Children's Museum of Winston-Salem have considered a merger for several years, but they say now the timing is right. Both are growing and share similar goals.
Elizabeth Dampier with the Children's Museum says the partnership allows them to provide more educational opportunities for the public.
“Having someone to partner with to offer more programming and to offer it in a different way that really fuses together the idea of arts, sciences, literacy, innovation, and discovery – all of this is going to be enhanced by us being able to work together,” says Dampier.
Paul Kortenaar with Sciworks says they'll operate from their current campuses and they're looking at a number of possibilities of where a shared facility could be located.
“We're still leasing land and a building from Forsyth County, so we want to talk with county commissioners about how they see the future of this new merged organization,” says Kortenaar.
He adds that a combined space downtown would make them more competitive with other museums in cities like Greensboro and Charlotte.
The merger officially takes effect on July 1.
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