Children's museum plans expansion

INDIANAPOLIS -- Visitors to The Indianapolis Children's Museum will be able to avoid crossing busy city streets after the construction of a new parking garage with an elevated walkway.\nThe museum plans to build a 950-space, 3 1/2-story parking garage across the street from the museum, partly to handle an expected increase in attendance when its $25 million Dinosphere opens next year.\nConstruction is expected to begin on the $15.6 million garage in May and to be completed in June 2004 when the museum opens the dinosaur research center and exhibit, museum officials said Monday.\nThe new exhibit in the former CineDome theater is expected to increase the museum's annual attendance of 1 million people by 20 percent.\nThe location of the garage on a current parking lot leaves room for a possible museum expansion.\n"You put it (the garage) out of the way," said William A. Browne Jr., president of Indianapolis-based Ratio Architects. "If you put the garage in the way, you don't want to tear it down for an eventual expansion to the museum."\nAlso included in a $31.25 million project announced Monday is the $2.5 million enclosed walkway from the garage over Illinois Street to the outdoor park in front of the museum.\nOther improvements planned are a $6.5 million entry to the Dinosphere and a $3.4 million expansion of dining facilities and collections storage areas.\nPlans include the use of tax-exempt bonds, internal money and contributions for the work.\nMuseum President Jeffrey Patchen said parking in the garage would be free and that the additions would not cause an increase in admission fees, which are $9.50 for adults and $4 for children.\nWhile the new garage is being built, a shuttle bus system is planned to transport visitors from a temporary parking lot several blocks away.