Young visitors enjoyed the butterfly shadow wall at the Boston Children’s Museum, where admission fees were waived yesterday as part of the Highland Street Foundation’s Free Fun Fridays series.
(Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)
‘Free Fun Fridays’ a hit with families
Young visitors enjoyed the butterfly shadow wall at the Boston Children’s Museum, where admission fees were waived yesterday as part of the Highland Street Foundation’s Free Fun Fridays series.
(Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)
When the Boston Children’s Museum opened yesterday morning, the waiting line stretched across the front plaza, down along Fort Point Channel, and around the corner to Seaport Boulevard. In the first half-hour alone, 1,500 people streamed through the doors, more than three times the crowd of a typical summer morning.
That’s been the case everywhere the Framingham-based Highland Street Foundation has staged its Free Fun Fridays this summer, underwriting admission at museums and cultural attractions across the state to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The Museum of Science, the JFK Library, the Boston Harbor Islands ferry, the Franklin Park Zoo - all have doubled or tripled their attendance over the same day last year.
“It’s been amazing,’’ said David J. McGrath III, one of the trustees of the family foundation and an Andover veterinarian. “Everything that we’ve opened has [multiplied] their normal admission for the day.’’
With many families struggling with budgets, it is little wonder the gesture has been so appreciated.
“It’s very crowded, but it’s nice,’’ said Jerry Dziejma of Holden, leading his wife and three children up the main staircase of the Children’s Museum. “Nice to be able to take the kids somewhere for free.’’
McGrath’s parents, David Jr. and JoAnn, started the Highland Street Foundation in 1989, and since then it has awarded more than $103 million in grants to initiatives in education, housing, the environment, and the arts. The elder McGrath, who died in 1995, developed his staffing firm, TAD Resources International, from a one-man enterprise to a global company that sold for $387.5 million after his death.
To celebrate the foundation’s anniversary, the McGraths decided to bolster their annual grants, which now average about $10 million, and allocate about $250,000 to eliminate admission prices at cultural attractions on 10 consecutive Fridays, with the Children’s Museum the fifth so far.
The free access has attracted an array of camps and child-care programs, especially those serving children in need. For families, it has meant the difference between attending and staying home or stretching their budgets to allow for souvenirs and concessions.
Admission for two parents and two children to the Children’s Museum normally costs $42. At Plimoth Plantation, next Friday’s free destination, it would be $92.
“If you’ve got a few kids, it makes a huge difference,’’ said Blake Jordan, executive director of the foundation.
The busiest day came at the Museum of Science, which had 13,000 visitors July 3, compared with 5,000 on the same date the year before. The Franklin Park Zoo enjoyed the greatest multiplying effect, with 6,423 visitors last Friday, well over three times the number (1,970) a year earlier.
The Children’s Museum broke its all-time daily attendance record of 6,300 by 3 p.m. yesterday, with six hours to go. Outside the museum, street performers and musicians entertained the fast-moving line. Inside, throngs of children scurried about, staring wide-eyed at the giant bubble-maker in the Science Playground and launching tennis balls skyward in the Kid Power exhibit.
At the bottom of a three-story climbing maze, Marisol Coreas of Everett waited for her 6-year-old daughter, Natalie.
“There she goes!’’ Coreas said, pointing out Natalie amid a tumble of children, while her 3-year-old, Michelle, clung to her leg. “Natalie, I’m right here! Come down, good job, good job, say excuse me.’’
Coreas took her children to the zoo last week.
“This is an expensive place, [but] it’s good, so you want to take advantage of it,’’ she said, speaking over the noise. “It’s worth a little chaos.’’
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
