Laurie Marciniak, Executive Director of the Curious Kids Museum

Laurie grew up in the Sister Lakes area. She attended Michigan Technological University and worked as an electrical engineer for Zenith for 27 years. She now lives in the Baroda area. Upon her retirement, she took on the role of Executive Director at Curious Kids and has been in that position for 13 years. “This is the best 2nd career I could have ever asked for,” she said. “I’m pleased to still be in this area.” But then, the Pandemic hit, and Curious Kids was closed for 15 months.

Then, 11 months after reopening, fire struck the building on Lake Blvd. This building is a Civil War-era structure, and it is where Curious Kids started in 1989. After the fire, the Curious Kids board attempted to purchase the building from the city and had plans to renovate it for $ 6.5 million. But the city was not up to offering a reasonable deal, and they looked elsewhere to expand. Luckily, the Heritage Museum, on Main St., came up for sale for 1.1 million, at just the right square footage they were looking for. After obtaining several variances in the building codes, they are ready to launch a Capital Campaign next month and anticipate a grand opening in early 2027. They still have a 20-year lease on the Lake Blvd. building and plan to use it as an after-school location and for student field trips.