Detroit Children's Museum Closed

DETROIT (WWJ) - The venerable Detroit Children's Museum, which opened in 1917, has closed, another victim of the city's crushing financial problems.

The announcement was made via an e-mail by a member of the Detroit Science Center's board. The Science Center is the Children's Museum's parent.

The Science Center has been closed since September due to a lack of funding, but the Children's Museum had been surviving on limited federal funds that ran out at the end of December.

Both institutions are expected to remain closed until financing can be found. Science Center officials have said they need to raise $5 million to reopen.

In a related development, Francois Castaing, the former Chrysler executive who has been the Science Center's board chairman since 1998, has resigned.

Castaing said in a statement, "The past six months have been heartbreaking for me, and I have come to the conclusion that it is time for me to move on."