Parents Ask Council to Back Children’s Museum : Thousand Oaks: A native peoples center is also proposed for land adjacent to the Civic Arts Plaza.

Parents in Thousand Oaks are urging the City Council to consider building a children’s museum next to the Civic Arts Plaza, which they say would make the new cultural center more appealing to families.

The council is set to decide Tuesday whether they want staff members to research the request for a children’s museum while also reviewing a proposal for a native peoples museum.

Parents began campaigning for a children’s museum several months ago, and presented the council with a letter signed by about 3,000 residents on Tuesday. The letter recommends construction of the museum on 11 acres at the eastern end of the Civic Arts Plaza.

Council member Jaime Zukowski said the council should recognize that the need for such a museum has been ignored for too long.

“There has been tremendous support for a children’s museum in the community, and this seemed to be an appropriate time to look into it,” Zukowski said. “It’s really something that this area needs and does not have.”

Zukowski said the city has known about public interest in a children’s museum for some time, but hasn’t aggressively pursued the idea because it is not viewed as a revenue producer.

Last week, the council approved 60 hours of staff time to review a plan for a native peoples museum, and Zukowski said it would be unfair not to consider the idea of a children’s museum as well.

“In all fairness, this has been an identified desire for some time,” she said. “The idea of putting a museum up should involve looking into more than just one type of museum.”

Parents who supported the idea of a children’s museum said they were excited that the council may finally take up their issue.

“There’s an incredible children’s museum in downtown L.A. and there’s a nice little one in Oxnard. We just wanted the city to think about putting one in between,” said Mary Ann Downs, who helped draft the letter to the council.

“It started as a bunch of parents sitting around with this idea, and we’d like to see it become something more than that,” she said.

Downs said she envisions a museum where children can learn about the world around them by touching and exploring items that would normally be off-limits.

“It doesn’t have to be anything super-duper fancy,” said Downs, who has a 3-year-old child and has worked as a child development specialist.

“A children’s exhibit is something hands-on, where they can play with skeletal bones or try on a firefighter’s uniform or go into a recording studio and make up a song,” she said. “Interactive learning plays a crucial role in a child’s development.”

Mayor Elois Zeanah said she supports the idea of a children’s museum because it would fit into the Thousand Oaks community.

“Thousand Oaks has always been a magnet for families,” Zeanah said. “I think this is a very desirable endeavor.”