CMoR to close Short Pump location permanently

The Children’s Museum of Richmond will permanently close its location at Short Pump Town Center by the end of August, organization officials announced Thursday.

“This was a difficult decision, and we are very disappointed about having to close our Short Pump location, which had been in operation since 2010,” said Danielle Ripperton, the Children’s Museum executive director. “But it is a financial reality we face during this ongoing pandemic. Given Short Pump’s proximity to downtown Richmond, we remain hopeful that our Henrico County visitors will frequent that museum location when we reopen.”

Short Pump’s exhibits will be transferred to other CMoR locations. Its part-time employees were laid off in mid-March, and its manager has taken another position within the organization, officials said.

While the museum’s Fredericksburg location also closed permanently earlier this year, Ripperton said that, when fully reopened, the Children’s Museum Downtown and Chesterfield locations “will continue to provide a significant footprint across the region, serving thousands of children and their families.”

A new online app called Museum Anywhere is available for Children’s Museum members to access information about benefits and discounts. In addition, CMoR is extending members’ annual subscriptions by the number of months it has remained closed.