At the Grand Rapids Public Museum, learning now happens outside, right on the banks of the Grand River. The museum's new Riverfront brings an outdoor classroom and reopened public access to the water, so students and families can explore the geology, ecology, and history of the river in the very landscape they're studying.
The Riverfront is part of the museum's Expanding Curiosity mission, which takes learning beyond the gallery walls and out to the riverbanks. The broader project, funded through public-private partnerships, added overlooks, hands-on environmental exhibits, improved access to the water's edge, and a connection to the Grand River Greenway, an 85-mile non-motorized trail system.
Each summer, roughly a thousand children visit the museum, and many now spend part of their day along the riverfront. Nearby, a layered Geology Wall recreates six types of stone found in the ground beneath Kent County. Educators use it to talk about the history of the rapids and how the limestone was mined from the area, with the real strata visible in the wall behind them.
Just as important is what the space reconnects. For years, retaining walls cut the museum off from the river below. Now a sidewalk and stone steps lead down to the water's edge, opening the river back up to the people who come to learn from it. Groups gather to collect water samples and study the insects that live in the river, and visitors have already put the space to use for fishing.
Accessibility shaped the design throughout. Rather than a single accessible route, the space offers multiple points of access, giving every visitor the freedom to choose how they move through it.
The museum Riverfront is one of six current projects reshaping the Grand River, and Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. is proud to be part of three of them. Along with the museum, we, in collaboration with the City of Grand Rapids and Viridis Design Group are building Canal Park, opening in late fall, and the East Riverfront Park near the new Acrisure Amphitheater, now in Phase II. Both add kayak launches and river access that this stretch of the Grand hasn't offered in generations, opening the water back up to the community.
Video by Taproot Pictures