Louisiana Children’s Museum to close its big blue doors on Julia Street

The Louisiana Children’s Museum will close its famous blue doors on Camp Street for good this week as it prepares to open its new location in City Park in August.

To celebrate the occasion, and to say goodbye to the block the museum has called home for more than three decades, LCM is hosting a door-closing ceremony on this Saturday, July 27, the last day the Camp Street location will be open to the public.

At the event, visitors will receive a temporary tattoo and logo sticker, can decorate a handkerchief to use in a farewell second line, and can become part of museum history by signing their names on one of the doors.

The museum opens at 9 a.m. and will count down the doors’ closing at 1:45 p.m.; the countdown will be followed by a balloon and confetti release.

During the 1880s, the museum’s current location housed a warehouse, first run by the Port of New Orleans, and a century later it served as the headquarters for Dixie Art Supplies and other businesses using the building’s office space. The museum opened there in 1986.

Along with the museum’s miniature grocery store, bicycle-riding Mr. Bones, and giant bubble makers, its massive blue doors were among its most memorable features for a generation of young New Orleanians.

“The museum on Julia Street represents cherished memories for so many,” LCM CEO Julia Bland said last month. “But we know our new site will continue to create memories and educate while providing even greater access and opportunities to the community.”

The museum’s new home in City Park will include five new interactive exhibits as well as new spins on old favorites, including the grocery store and bubble maker. It opens August 31.

General admission to the Julia Street museum is $10.