New Jersey Children’s Museum in Paramus to close its doors
August 22, 2014 Last updated: Friday, August 22, 2014, 10:26 AM
By Jodi Weinberger
Staff Writer
The New Jersey Children’s Museum will close on Sept. 1.
Tears were spilled at the New Jersey Children’s Museum on a recent summer day. Not from a fight over sharing toys, or a youngster protesting the trip home, but from the parents and grandparents who brought them there.
After 23 years, the Paramus play space will permanently close on Sept. 1.
“You’re going to make me cry,” said Lisa Grassi, just moments before her eyes turned watery as she watched her grandson, Cody, operate a stationary backhoe on what would be their last “Grandma Day” at the museum.
The Dumont resident said she had looked forward to bringing Cody’s 1-year-old brother when he was old enough on his next birthday.
“If it’s raining or too hot … where are we going to bring them?” Grassi wondered. “And it’s a chance for him to play with other kids.”
Anne and Elliot Sumers, the museum’s founders, shared the news of the closing with their 22-member staff last week and then posted an announcement on their website and other social media where fans of the space could commiserate.
“It’s just the saddest thing in the world,” said Anne Sumers on a phone call Aug. 19.
Ridgewood-based Valley Health Systems, which purchased the building including the 15,000-square-foot museum at 599 Valley Health Plaza, offered the Sumers the option to terminate their lease “a couple weeks ago,” said Elliot Sumers, when it otherwise would have expired in October 2016.
“We couldn’t continue to operate the museum under the current circumstances,” Elliot Sumers said, adding that it would have needed “considerable improvements” to the bathrooms and other areas.
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