A popular downtown Medford children’s organization that serves 120,000 visiting family members annually is about to undergo a major growth spurt.

Housed inside the historic Carnegie Library, The Children’s Museum of Southern Oregon, formerly Kid Time, is gearing up to add a 12,000-square-foot addition with a play area on the rooftop, overlooking Medford City Hall and the Jackson County Courthouse.

“We’re almost doubling the size of the building,” said Sunny Spicer, executive director.

She said the new addition to the 1911 Carnegie Library, which already has an addition from the 1950s, will attempt to honor the architectural style of the original building.

“This is an additional piece in how the city can revive and bring new life to the downtown,” Spicer said.

The existing 1911 Carnegie Library and an addition built in the 1950s have 15,700 square feet.

Spicer said the proposed addition, which will face City Hall on West Eighth Street, will actually have more space than the existing building if the rooftop area is also calculated.

She said the rooftop will be designed to be completely secure for children and families, providing a space for kids to play, along with seating areas and a kitchenette.

“This is something we’ve had in mind for a long time — a rooftop area,” Spicer said.

She said the rooftop space could also be rented out for events.

The new building, which would be two-stories, would allow the Children’s Museum to expand its Ivy School, which currently serves 260 kids.

Three new classrooms will be available on the first floor of the addition. There are four in the main campus, and an additional seven in the Medford School District. The first floor will have administrative offices.

On the second floor, there will be a culinary studio and a clay studio, as well as a large space for various programs.

Spicer said the Children’s Museum has raised just over $6 million for the project toward its $8 million goal, with money coming from grants, private donations and state money. For more information go to www.tcmso.org.

She said there are additional requirements for the new building because of the government grants and because the Carnegie is on the National Register of Historic Places.

If all the steps fall into place, Spicer hopes to go out to bid on the new building this summer, with construction lasting for about 18 months.

“We are hoping to get started this year,” she said.

Spicer said the city of Medford and Medford City Council have been key partners in the organization’s success. The city has provided a 50-year lease on the building and surrounding grounds to the Children’s Museum for $1 a year. The Carnegie sits adjacent to Alba Park.

The city also made $1 million in improvements to the building, including new windows and a better HVAC system.

The city planning department has been reviewing the proposed addition and plans and designs are being refined, Spicer said.

When the new Medford library was built, the Carnegie remained largely empty after 2004, before the Children’s Museum undertook significant improvements from 2019 to 2022.

Much of the historic integrity of the building was lost over the years, Spicer said.

The Children’s Museum has 73 employees currently, and she said the new building will likely require hiring additional staff.

More expansion efforts in other Southern Oregon communities could take place in the near future. Spicer said her organization is going to open a children’s museum and preschool in Grants Pass. On its website, the Children’s Museum indicated it has raised close to half its fund-raising goal of $7.5 million for the Grants Pass project.

The Children’s Museum has continued to grow, posting 5,000 family memberships in 2024, an amount surpassing other children’s museums in the region.

“That rivals one outside of Seattle,” Spicer said.

Parking is something of an issue for the Children’s Museum, which only has a parking lot for 10 vehicles.

Spicer said her organization rents off-site parking for employees, and currently there is sufficient on-street parking for families.

In the future, she said that at some point more parking areas will needed in the downtown.

Medford is going through a period of strong interest in reviving historic buildings in the downtown.

The 1930 Holly Theatre is expected to open sometime this year, and the 1915 Elks Lodge has recently been remodeled.

Medford Councilor Kevin Stine, who supports council a scholarship fund to low-income children in preschool at the Children’s Museum, said, “Sunny Spicer and her team have done amazing work from getting support from the governor’s office and from U.S. Senators.” He said Oregon state Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, and Oregon state Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, have been strong supporters of the Children’s Museum.

Stine said the Children’s Museum “has been a good partner, and obviously they do great work with everyone regardless of their income status.”