CHAPEL HILL -- Since Kidzu Children's Museum opened 31/2 years ago, more than 100,000 children and parents have visited the small storefront on Franklin Street.
On Monday night, the Chapel Hill Town Council approved an agreement that will open Kidzu's make-believe worlds to even more families.
The 99-year lease for $99 will allow Kidzu to build a museum on top of the Wallace Parking Deck in downtown Chapel Hill.
That will increase by at least fivefold Kidzu's indoor space, which currently can hold only a handful of small, rotating exhibits.
Already 2,500 visitors go to the museum each month, with just over half fromOrange County, 19 percent from Durham County, 12percent from Chatham and Wake and 17 percent from other parts of the state.
With about 1,250 square feet of indoor exhibit space, that's a lot of visitors per square foot.
The Museum of Life and Science in Durham, by comparison, hosts about 33,000 visitors per month in 64,000 square feet of indoor space - one monthly visitor for every two square feet, versus Kidzu's two monthly visitors for every one square foot.
The new facility will add 9,000 square feet of indoor exhibits to Kidzu and is projected to serve more than 6,000 visitors a month.
Kidzu Executive Director Cathy Maris said the expansion also will help the museum increase the top of Kidzu's age-range from 8 to about 10 and attract more people from outside Orange County.
"That's going to allow us to be even more of a regional destination," she said. "People can come, and they can stay for most of the day because there's enough to do."
Kidzu plans to construct multiple stories, totaling about 15,000 square feet on the elevated west end of the Wallace Plaza, next to the Bank of America Center on East Rosemary Street.
The organization will also take over 5,000 square feet outdoors on the elevated northeast quadrant of the plaza.
The town will maintain control of the sunken southeast corner of the plaza, which has been used the past two summers for outdoor concerts and movies. The town will also have access to Kidzu's outdoor courtyard and the interior of the museum for special events.
The town will be responsible for maintaining the parking deck and will retain the option to redevelop the site after 10 years as long as it provides Kidzu with an alternative location.
Boosters like Downtown Partnership Director Jim Norton recently told the council that Kidzu attracts visitors to Franklin Street to support local businesses.
"Who better to energize our downtown than young children and their families?" Maris said. "Our vision is your vision."
"It brings me, my family and my dollars downtown," said one mother, Corey Williams.
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