Marbles Kids Museum

Marbles, and some other parks projects, got some money approved for a big expansion by the Wake County Commissioners.

Five Sports and Recreation Projects Score Big with Wake Commissioners | Wake County Government

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Is that going to go on the same footprint, given that Vela is taking the parking lot?

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That’s a good question, the only thing I found was something dated from 2019. Not sure if any of this is still accurate at all.

marbles_rfi_response.pdf (amazonaws.com)

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The approved project looks much more modest than their ask in 2019. They are doing a 3,200-SF expansion and a courtyard for an estimated $6 million. They were previously wanting to do a 60,000-SF expansion for $45 million (in 2019 dollars, obviously would cost more four years later).

But I’m glad they are improving, even if at a smaller scale. Marbles is great. Kids love it and it draws families downtown. We will sometimes go to Marbles then get lunch downtown.

Edit: looks like they asked for $2.7 million and got $600K. I would have liked it to be more…hopefully the project will happen, looks cool.

Here’s the current plan: https://wake.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11890650&GUID=F553C3D7-FBF1-43F1-B817-B23EEFB50E8D

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I think with Vela and all the proposed residential coming to Moore Square area will have lots of additional potential foot traffic coming into the area.

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I’m delighted by this. Marbles is an absolute treasure. It’s not a ton of extra space, but every little bit helps, and I’m excited to see how they utilize it.

Incidentally, I went to my first-ever Marbles 21 night two Fridays ago and the place was absolutely packed. It was a fun event that brought in a ton of people. If you’re ever looking for something fun to do downtown on a Friday night, I’d certainly recommend checking it out the next time they hold one.

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Two loads of Construction fencing showed up today in this parking lot. Not sure if it’s for this building or the BRT. I doubt it’s for Marbles

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Well, Marbles is about to start a minor renovation of their plaza with butterfly sculptures and new landscaping and hardscaping I think.

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I remember they used to have flower tops on those giant poles out front. Now they just have a bunch of giant poles.

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Vela got their ASR approved a little over a year ago and doesn’t show any permitting action since then

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That doesn’t look very safe for the kids to play in…

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Child labor. It’s no playing matter.

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Marbles is a real gem for Raleigh. Glad that it continues to expand and improve.

If anyone on this board is involved with Marbles, thank you for everything you do.

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Marbles rocks. We had our first two years ago and being close enough to walk is amazing. He’s there about once a week (or the science museum)

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Shared by the DRA:

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