The Mid-Columbia Children’s Museum finally has a future home.

And as a mom of three living in the Tri-Cities, I’m genuinely excited that this project is moving forward.

The museum has selected a 2.5-acre site along Keene Road in West Richland, across from West Richland City Hall and Libby Middle School.

But when I first saw the location, I had questions.

Not because I don’t want it in West Richland. I absolutely want more family-friendly things to do throughout the Tri-Cities.

My question was much more practical:

If this is supposed to become a regional destination for families throughout Richland, Kennewick, Pasco, West Richland and beyond, how easy will it actually be for families to make a day out of going there?

And there’s another question I think deserves just as much attention.

What will it eventually cost families to use it?

Because the proposed museum is a major project, and accessibility should mean more than simply having a building available to visit.

Where Will the Mid-Columbia Children’s Museum Be?

The selected location is along Keene Road in West Richland, across from City Hall and Libby Middle School.

The site is within the developing Belmont Business District.

West Richland made a pretty compelling offer.

According to the recently announced plans, the city offered the museum property at a lease rate of just $0.78 per year for up to 150 years.

Yes. Seventy-eight cents.

The city has also been working to secure additional acreage next to the original property, which could give the museum more room for future growth and outdoor educational and recreational space.

When you look at it from the museum’s perspective, I can understand why that would be difficult to pass up.

Land is expensive.

A children’s museum requires a lot of it.

And every dollar that doesn’t have to go toward acquiring land can potentially go somewhere else in the project.

But location still matters.

The Part I Keep Coming Back to as a Mom

When I take my three kids somewhere, we usually aren’t doing just one thing.

If we’re visiting another city, we’re probably eating somewhere.

We might do some light shopping, especially local boutiques or a specialty grocery store we don’t have at home.

And we’ll usually find one more activity.

Maybe it’s sightseeing.

Maybe it’s a park.

Maybe we grab food and have a picnic.

That’s how a lot of families actually experience a destination.

It’s rarely:

Drive to building. Enter building. Leave building. Drive home.

And that’s why Vista Field in Kennewick was particularly interesting to me as one of the locations that had been considered.

Why Vista Field Made Sense to Me

Vista Field sits in an already established commercial and entertainment area of the Tri-Cities.

It’s near Columbia Center Mall, the Three Rivers Convention Center, Toyota Center and the Columbia Center Boulevard retail corridor.

There are already restaurants everywhere.

There’s Target nearby.

There’s Chick-fil-A.

There’s the mall.

And Nordstrom Rack is opening in the Tri-Cities Center along Columbia Center Boulevard in November 2026.

There are plenty of other places families can eat, shop and spend time without driving to another side of town.

Then you have Columbia Park.

If my family spent a few hours at a children’s museum at Vista Field, we could grab lunch and head down toward the river.

Playground of Dreams is less than a 10-minute drive from the Vista Field area.

Grab food.

Go to the park.

Let the kids play.

Have a picnic by the Columbia River.

Now you’ve created an entire family day.

And for people visiting from outside the Tri-Cities, that’s important. But alas, given the museum's proposal of a 2.5–3 acre footprint, 120+ dedicated parking spaces, bus access and future expansion needs Vista Field’s denser, walkable mixed-use design simply wouldn't work without significantly changing the museum’s current plans. A girl can dream, right?

The Museum Is Supposed to Become a Destination

This isn’t being envisioned as a small neighborhood children’s center.

The goal is much bigger.

Museum supporters have described the project as something that could help make the Tri-Cities more attractive to visitors and future residents.

I agree with that.

We need more family-centered attractions here.

I’ve lived in the greater Seattle area, where families have access to museums, the zoo, major concerts, sightseeing and an enormous variety of activities.

The Tri-Cities isn’t Seattle, and I don’t want it to be.

But I absolutely think we can continue adding more things for families to do here.

A children’s museum is a great addition.

If we’re calling it a regional destination, though, I think it’s reasonable to look at the entire visitor experience.

Where Do You Eat Afterward?

This sounds ridiculously simple, but parents understand why I’m asking it.

The kids have been running around for three hours.

Everyone is hungry.

Where are we eating?

What else is nearby?

Can we drive five minutes and have multiple options?

Is there another attraction nearby?

If grandma and grandpa came with us, is there something else they’d enjoy doing afterward?

If somebody drove here from Yakima, Walla Walla or Hermiston, what would make them stay in the Tri-Cities for the rest of the day?

Those little decisions matter when you’re trying to turn an attraction into a destination.

West Richland Is Making a Different Bet

There is another side to this.

West Richland isn’t necessarily arguing that all of those amenities already exist around the museum site.

The idea is that the museum could help create them.

The selected Keene Road area has been growing.

West Richland City Hall and its police department have moved into the corridor. Libby Middle School, Desert Sky Elementary and other development have followed in the broader area.

More residential and commercial development is coming.

The museum could become an anchor that encourages even more family-oriented businesses and development around it.

That’s a legitimate economic development strategy.

Instead of putting the museum where everything already exists, you use the museum to help create a new destination.

That could work.

But it also means we’re talking about what this area could eventually become versus what already exists today.

Pasco Had Another Location That Made Sense to Me

The Road 100 area of Pasco near the new aquatic center was another location previously considered.

That one interested me for a similar reason.

Put family attractions near other family attractions.

If you’re already investing heavily in an aquatic center, putting another major family destination nearby starts creating a recreational hub.

You’re also near major arterials that people from throughout the region already use.

Again, I’m thinking about this as a parent.

If I have packed three kids into the car, I want options.

The more things I can reasonably combine into one trip, the better.

But Let’s Talk About the Money

This is actually the part of the project I’m going to be watching most closely.

The museum is expected to be a very significant development.

Earlier estimates during the site-selection process put the potential project in roughly the $34 million to $50 million range for a larger concept. More recent reporting around the selected site has discussed approximately $30 million still being needed to build the museum envisioned through community input.

Those numbers can change considerably as design and fundraising progress.

But whichever final number we end up with, we’re talking about tens of millions of dollars.

The museum has already secured state funding for design work, and organizers have said they plan to pursue grants and government funding for a significant portion of construction rather than asking the local community to fund the entire project.

That’s good context.

But as a parent, my next question is still:

What will admission cost?

We Don’t Know What Admission Will Cost Yet

I want to be very clear here.

I have not seen an announced admission price for the future Mid-Columbia Children’s Museum.

So I’m not going to make one up.

But I hope affordability remains one of the biggest priorities as this project develops.

Because building a beautiful children’s museum is one thing.

Building one that local families can actually afford to use regularly is another.

If you’re a family with multiple kids, admission adds up quickly.

Then add food.

Gas.

Maybe parking, depending on how the property is ultimately designed.

Maybe you want to visit several times a year.

Those costs matter.

And they matter even more when the stated mission is to create something accessible for families throughout the Mid-Columbia.

What Does “Accessible” Really Mean for Tri-Cities Families?

To me, accessibility has several pieces:

• Can families afford to go?

• Can they get there easily?

• Is there enough parking?

• Can families from other Tri-Cities communities reasonably access it?

• Are there public transportation options?

• What else can families do while they’re there?

• Can families visit repeatedly instead of treating it as an expensive once-a-year activity?

Those are the questions I’d like to see answered as the museum moves from selecting land into actual design.

To West Richland’s credit, city officials are already working with Ben Franklin Transit on a possible bus stop and route serving the museum.

That’s exactly the kind of planning I want to see.

What Could Change Around the West Richland Site?

A lot.

And this is where my real estate background makes me hesitate to judge a location based entirely on what surrounds it today.

I’m Kim Feliciano, a Tri-Cities, WA REALTOR®, former appraiser and Certified Real Estate Analyst, helping people buy, sell and relocate throughout Richland, Kennewick, Pasco, West Richland and the surrounding Tri-Cities.

One thing real estate teaches you very quickly is that development changes an area.

Today’s empty parcel can become tomorrow’s retail center.

A road that feels far out today might feel completely normal after another decade of growth.

Businesses follow rooftops.

Retail follows traffic.

Infrastructure changes.

And West Richland has been growing toward this area for years.

So I don’t think it’s fair to look at the selected museum site and assume what’s around it today is what will be around it when this museum actually opens.

The museum itself could accelerate some of that development.

That’s What Makes This Location Decision So Interesting

Vista Field would have placed the museum into an established commercial and entertainment area.

West Richland is essentially offering the museum an opportunity to help build a new one.

Those are two completely different strategies.

As a mom, Vista Field appealed to me because of convenience.

Museum. Lunch. Shopping. River. Playground.

Done.

That’s an easy day.

From a development standpoint, I understand why West Richland’s offer and the opportunity to anchor a growing district could be compelling.

Now we get to see whether the surrounding development follows.

What Happens Next With the Tri-Cities Children’s Museum?

Selecting the location doesn’t mean the museum opens next year.

There’s still a lot of work ahead:

• Design

• Community input

• Fundraising

• Grants

• Government funding

• Construction

• Exhibit planning

• Infrastructure

And hopefully, a very thoughtful conversation about admission and long-term affordability.

This is a huge project.

I’m excited we’re getting it.

I’m also going to keep asking practical questions about it.

Because parents aren’t experiencing this project from a rendering.

Eventually, we’re going to experience it while loading kids into a car, figuring out what everyone is eating, deciding what else we’re doing that day and looking at what the whole outing costs.

That’s the version of accessibility that matters to me.

FAQ: New Mid-Columbia Children’s Museum

Where will the new Tri-Cities children’s museum be located?

The Mid-Columbia Children’s Museum selected a 2.5-acre property along Keene Road in West Richland, across from West Richland City Hall and Libby Middle School.

Is the children’s museum definitely going to West Richland?

The Mid-Columbia Children’s Museum announced West Richland as its selected future home in August 2026. The project still has significant design, fundraising and development work ahead.

How much will the Mid-Columbia Children’s Museum cost?

The exact final development cost has not been established. Estimates discussed during planning have been in the tens of millions of dollars, with organizers pursuing grants and government funding as part of the financing strategy.

How much will admission to the new children’s museum cost?

An admission price has not been announced. Affordability will be an important issue to watch as the museum develops.

When will the Mid-Columbia Children’s Museum open?

There is not yet a final opening date. Earlier planning discussions contemplated breaking ground around 2029 or 2030, but the timeline will depend on design, fundraising and development.

What other locations were considered for the Tri-Cities children’s museum?

Several locations were discussed during the process, including Vista Field in Kennewick, the Broadmoor area of Pasco and locations in Richland.

Why was West Richland selected?

Among the advantages reported with the West Richland proposal were an extremely low-cost long-term land lease, the possibility of additional acreage, a public-private partnership with the city and the opportunity for the museum to help anchor future development in the Belmont Business District.

I’m Still Excited to Take My Kids

That’s probably the most important part.

I can question the location and still be excited about the project.

Actually, I think we should be able to do both.

The Tri-Cities needs more indoor activities.

A permanent children’s museum gives local families another option and gives families considering moving here another reason to see this as a place where they can build a life.

Now I want to see what gets built around it.

I want to see how families from the rest of the Tri-Cities access it.

And most importantly, I want to see whether the finished museum remains affordable enough that local families can actually use it.

Because if we’re going to spend tens of millions of dollars creating a children’s museum for this community, success shouldn’t simply mean that we built it.

Success should mean families can actually enjoy it.

Kim Feliciano
Tri-Cities, WA REALTOR®

Helping buyers and sellers navigate the housing market in:

Richland
Kennewick
Pasco
West Richland
Benton City

Website: www.heykimfeliciano.com
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