The History of Eureka!

The story of Eureka! began in 1985 when The Museum for Children became a registered charity, working towards the building of the UK’s first children’s museum.

The decision was made for Eureka! to be located on the site of a derelict railway yard at the recommendation of HRH Prince Charles who believed it would have a positive effect on urban regeneration in Halifax and provide a fantastic experience for children and families living in the north of England. The local authority entered into a long-term leasehold agreement with Eureka! trustees at this time, enabling them to proceed with the development of the museum.

The building years! Eureka! took three years to build and cost over £9million. Most of the capital came from the museum’s benefactor, Vivien Duffield, DBE,CBE, Chairman of the Clore Duffield Foundation along with active support from many local businesses.

HRH Prince Charles became Eureka!’s Patron and officially declared the museum open on 9 July 1992, welcoming the first of millions of children through its doors. TV personality Esther Rantzem also cut a celebratory cake at the launch. The original galleries were Invent, Create, Communicate, which has since been replaced by two new galleries, and Me & My Body and Living & Working Together which both remain hugely popular today.

From the outset Eureka! received huge critical acclaim and, having already picked up the title Yorkshire Visitor Attraction of the Year, was crowned national Visitor Attraction of the Year by the English Tourist Board.

Well ahead of target, Eureka!’s achieves its 1 millionth ‘visitor’ - an entire class of primary children from Furness Vale Primary School in Stockport!

A new permanent gallery called Things opened, wowing children with modern examples of design and technology and its place within their lives.
The Yorkshire Tourist Board again makes Eureka! Visitor Attraction of the Year.

Hundreds of school children from across the North of England were able to visit the museum for free after Eureka! received funding earmarked for this purpose from the Diana Princess of Wales memorial fund.

A new Director, Leigh-Anne Stradeski was appointed to lead Eureka! through its next stage of growth and development.
Eureka!’s visitor figures surged when the national press reported that Eureka!’s Me & My Body gallery was superior to the one in the newly opened Millennium Dome.
The 1855 Station Building, Halifax’s original station building located on the Eureka! site, was regenerated with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Clore Duffield Foundation; a ‘masterly’ restoration that went on to win the National Railway Heritage Trust Award in 2002.

Eureka! embarked on a visionary 6-year development plan for the museum, focusing on the creation of four new permanent new galleries and two travelling exhibitions at a projected cost of more than £6million. The new developments would be paid for through a mixture of National Lottery funding, charitable grants and corporate sponsorship.
A new board of trustees was appointed and several new staff appointments made to support the development programme.

Europe’s first fully interactive environmental gallery for children Our Global Garden opened to mark Eureka!’s 10th birthday. The gallery replaced the former Things gallery and the Factory that had been part of Living & Working Together.
Eureka! became the lead partner in the £3.8m Creative Minds project funded by Yorkshire Forward and undertaken in partnership with Yorkshire Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and Kelham Island Industrial Museum. The goal of the project was to increase children’s enthusiasm for and understanding of science, technology, engineering and maths.
Eureka! joined the Town Team in order to develop a plan for the regeneration of the Piece Hall Renaissanceareaand to improve the links between Eureka! and the town centre.This was undertaken as part of Yorkshire Forward’s Urban Renaissance programme.

Eureka! acquired the children’s day nursery Share, Care & Learning and relocated it in the renovated 1855 Station Building in the museum grounds. The nursery for 0-5s and attached holiday club, the Eureka! Den, became the first in the UK to be associated with a museum or educational attraction and the links were strengthened when it later relaunched as The Eureka! Nursery.

A permanent futuristic-style gallery exploring the science of sound, SoundSpace opened in summer 2004 as part of the Creative Minds project. Opened by Take That’s Mark Owen, its focus on music and performance provides numerous opportunities for children to experiment with their own creative abilities.
Eureka!’s first travelling exhibition Explore the Eureka! Moment was developed as part of the Creative Minds project. After launching at Eureka!, it toured venues in Yorkshire and even travelled as far Edinburgh Museum, introducing thousands of children to the science behind innovation and creativity.
A new gallery SoundGarden opened towards the end of the year, breaking new ground as the UK’s first hands-on gallery designed specifically for children from birth to five years. Filled with multi-sensory hands-on exhibits, it seeks to introduce very young children to sounds and science in the natural world. Both SoundSpace and SoundGarden replaced the former Invent, Create, Communicate gallery.

Eureka! opened Desert Discovery, a second gallery for under fives which doubled the space dedicated to the museum’s youngest visitors and marked Eureka!’s continuing rise as specialists in the field of early learning and development.
Eureka! launched its second travelling exhibition, Mission: Active Future, this time focusing on the topical issue of children’s health and supported by lead funding from Sport England Yorkshire and the Big Lottery Fund. A full size exhibition housed inside a customised articulated lorry, it features hands-on activities and child-size exercise equipment and is designed to inspire children and young people to become more physically active.
Eureka! Director, Leigh-Anne Stradeski was appointed as President of Hands-On! Europe, the European Association of Children’s Museums, and as a member of the Advisory Panel of the National Children’s Museum in Washington DC.

Lord Sebastian Coe visited Eureka!’s Mission: Active Future exhibition, describing it as “one of the most interesting and exciting projects that I have seen in the last ten years”.
Eureka! celebrated its most successful year for five years, in which visitor numbers rose to 260,000.

Eureka! is voted the third best family day out in the country by a top panel of judges at The Independent.
The popular M&S shop in the heart of Eureka!’s Town Square - where children can role-play as adults to do the shopping, visit the bank, deliver the post and fill up the car - relaunched with a £30,000 makeover which was funded by M&S and reflects the new brand identity for the successful stores.
A UK museum first – Eureka! appoints a senior Director of Play and Early Years to emphasise the importance of play-based learning and its intention to integrate this philosophy into every aspect of its delivery.
Eureka! worked alongside Square Chapel Centre for the Arts to develop and deliver a brand new festival for 6-19 years olds in Calderdale, The July Project which is sponsored by The Halifax bank.
Eureka! invites Calderdale residents to join the museum in celebrating its 15th birthday with a giant free party which also marks the successful culmination of The July Project.