Brookings Children's Museum: Bang! Splash!

Brookings enjoyed picture-perfect Sunday weather for the opening of its amazing new Children's Museum.

The Brookings Children's Museum is on the site of old Central Elementary, just one block east of downtown. Within a two-block radius of this remarkable facility, you can walk to the public library, the community arts center, the bike shop, Nick's Hamburgers, the used book store, and George's Pizza... assuming you can manage to get through all of the activities in the children's museum. Walk a couple more blocks, and you can catch a movie. All Brookings needs now to complete the downtown tourism picture is a nice downtown hotel.

Both of us think the hanging sculptures in the bright, sunny atrium are wonderful.

A big crowd hung around after the museum closed to hear Recycled Percussion give an outdoor concert. The musicians took a break from their gig at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to open the museum with a bang. Several bangs, actually.

Among the crowd enjoying the museum and music: Brookings resident Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, who made time after the Habitat dedication to bring her son Zachary and dad Lars to the museum. Both Herseth gents report enjoying the water farm immensely.