The Neville Public Museum in downtown Green Bay. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Children’s Museum of Green Bay could be relocating to the Neville Public Museum.
Toni Burnett, executive director for The Children’s Museum of Green Bay, confirmed the possibility after Brown County’s executive said potential partnerships are being explored before a new director is hired for the Neville.
Burnett said in a statement:
The Children’s Museum of Green Bay has been in discussions with Brown County regarding the potential of relocating to the Neville Public Museum. The Children’s Museum serves more than 60,000 visitors annually and has operated successfully for over 14 years, bringing nationally recognized programming, interactive exhibits and educational excellence to our community.
The Neville Public Museum is an integral part of this vision. Its history, artifacts and stories are the foundation of what we hope to build together, brought to life in new and interactive ways for every child and every family in our region.
If an agreement can be worked out, this would create an incredible destination for all northeast Wisconsin families, while also complementing downtown economic development and boosting tourism.
We are excited about this possibility and remain committed to getting it right for the children and families of Green Bay.
Brown County Executive Troy Strekenbach said the county is examining partnerships, but wouldn’t name who those potential partners are.
“I think we’d be foolish not to at least examine it,” said Streckenbach. “Things like this take time.”
“Our goal is to kind of look to see if there’s a partnership that can take place with this cultural campus and enhancing it as a tourism destination and really raising the level of the Neville Public Museum’s long-term fiscal stability,” said Streckenbach.
Green Bay City Council President Alyssa Proffitt says the combination of rumors of reconfiguring the Neville and a soon-to-be 8 month vacancy of an executive director prompted her and others to come up with a formal resolution supporting the museum, which the city council is scheduled to vote on Tuesday night. It includes a recommendation Brown County take immediate action to hire executive leadership.
“We would hope that any major changes such as perhaps a privatization or selling the property in any regard, we would hope that would involve the community before we would make any major changes,” said Proffitt.
In an email to the mayor and city council members, Brown County Supervisor Pat Evans says a majority of board supervisors weren’t pleased with the city resolution.
“They understand the resolution, but they don’t want to be told what we should be doing,” said Evans.
In his email, Evans says this resolution could hurt city and county relations. However, after weekend discussions with council members, Evans says slight changes are being made to the resolution that he believes will lead to support from both city and county representatives.
“We all want to have a successful Neville, but let’s make sure the resolution they’re going to pass is something that is going to be in support of what we’re doing,” said Evans.
“Overall, the message that needs to come across is a collaborative one,” said Proffitt.
As for potential partnerships for the Neville, Streckenbach says more could be publicly shared soon.
“Rather than rushing to hire that Neville Public Museum director, let’s wait to see if this partnership can take place, and with that, then we hire the new executive director to kind of reflect that new partnership,” said Streckenbach.
The museum’s former executive director left September 15th.
The job opening was posted in December. The county executive says there’s been about 50 applicants.
As for the possible move of the Children’s Museum, Burnett said:
The Children’s Museum has always been focused on one thing, creating an extraordinary experience for the children and families of this community.
Green Bay is the third largest city in Wisconsin and deserves a world-class cultural destination.
Whatever path we take, that is exactly what we intend to build. We are committed to bringing something truly remarkable to this community and we will.
The Children’s Museum of Green Bay welcomes more than 70,000 visitors each year, according to Burnett. County documents show the Neville had 41,156 visitors in 2025.
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