YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Oh Wow! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center is bouncing back after a year of challenges.

Street reconstruction projects and the Realty Tower explosion and subsequent razing caused attendance at the children’s museum in downtown Youngstown to decline in 2024.

However, those numbers are trending in the right direction as the museum gets back to business as usual, according to Executive Director Katie Seminara-DeToro.

Last year, Oh Wow! served more than 51,000 visitors. It expects to see that number grow in 2025 with the opening of new exhibit space on the second floor.

The museum saw a change in leadership in 2024, when Seminara-DeToro was hired.

Amid all the change, Oh Wow!’s board of directors never lost sight of the museum’s legacy and mission and has primed the center for much progress in 2025, Seminara-DeToro says.

“The dedication of our board of directors in 2024 was incomparable and we are energized to tackle another year of diversifying Oh Wow!’s capabilities and reach,” says Ellie Platt, board chair.

The building’s second floor is undergoing renovations and will open to the public in April. Special events for donors, supporters and members in anticipation of the grand opening will take place in March.

The new space will feature two new technology lab areas, including a 3D printing space in partnership with America Makes. A temporary maze exhibit will also be housed on the new floor as the museum continues permanent plans into 2026.

The award of a $1.4 million grant through the U.S. Department of Education as well as Ohio capital budget funds have substantially supported the renovation project Seminara-DeToro says.

“Just like many businesses downtown, Oh Wow! is regaining its footing and working on steady structure and strategic planning for the next few years,” she says. “Owning our building comes with great responsibility but will also open the door to vast opportunity to expand our goals of promoting curiosity and independent thinking.”

Oh Wow! offered free admission to more than 600 visitors during the Downtown Open in October, and 500 visitors for the Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting event in December.

Free admissions were sponsored, respectively, by 717 Credit Union and the Mahoning County Convention & Visitors Bureau.