Open for Play - Children’s Museum of Franklin!

By J.D. O’Gara

On September 17, 2025, the Children’s Museum of Franklin held a ribbon cutting for its first permanent location at 157 Cottage Street, Franklin, Mass. The event celebrated the culmination of two years of vision, collaboration, and community support, officially opening the doors of a museum designed to empower children and families to discover, imagine, and grow together through play and exploration. The event included remarks and citations by Aidan Doherty, District Director for Sen. Becca Rausch and by Rep. Jeff Roy. Founders Erin Gallagher and Meg Hagen expressed their gratitude to all of those that helped them to realize their dream of a regional children’s museum, with Meg promising to “welcome you all into the inclusive, creative and joyful space that is children’s museum of Franklin” once the children at the gathering made a ceremonial mad dash up the ramp to the front doors. 

Hagen added, joined by Gallagher, “So, from the bottom of our very joyful, very tired, and very grateful hearts, thank you, and let’s play!”

The museum is intentionally built to be inclusive and accessible, welcoming families of all backgrounds, financial circumstances, and abilities.

The journey to opening day was powered by the support of donors, community members and Mobile Museum visitors from across the region, the design vision of KuthRanieri Architects, and especially the extraordinary partnership with Camford Property Group, whose commitment helped bring this dream to life.

“We’re endlessly grateful to every individual and organization who has contributed their time, talents, and resources,” added co-founder Meg Hagen. “This museum is built for the community, by the community.”

For more information, visit www.childrensmuseumfranklin.org or follow the museum on social media @childrensmuseumfranklin.

Here are a few scenes from the event.