A new museum in the works to celebrate the life and work of Theodor Geisel AKA Dr. Seuss. The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, which will feature a highly interactive literacy-based exhibition featuring beloved Seuss characters, as well as exhibits to honor Geisel himself and the community which fostered his early development and creative genius. The museum will be housed in the William Pynchon Memorial building on the Springfield Museums campus in downtown Springfield, MA.

Geisel was born and raised in Springfield. The setting of his first book, To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, is a real-life Springfield street of the same name located just two blocks from the Springfield Museums campus.

Following Ted's death in 1991, his wife Audrey authorized the creation of the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, which opened on the Springfield Museums grounds in 2002. The sculptures of Ted and some of his most famous characters were created by his stepdaughter, Lark Grey Diamond Cates, and attract thousands of visitors to Springfield each year. The creation of a new museum with literacy and reading at its core is the logical next step towards creating a more fitting tribute to Ted Geisel and his legacy.

Visitors will enter the 3,200 square-foot exhibition through a large entry hall designed to simulate elements of And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. In succeeding galleries, visitors will explore a series of environments that replicate scenes from Dr. Seuss's imagination and encounter life-sized three-dimensional characters and places from the books. Designers from 42 Design Fab, 5 WITS and Boston Productions are beginning initial fabrication of interactive elements for the first floor, which is scheduled for completion by mid-2016.

The building's second floor is slated to house additional exhibits including a re-creation of Ted Geisel's studio, an exhibition about the making of the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden and other related displays. These additional elements are slated for completion in 2017. A new website titled seussinspringfield.org will be launched in June 2015 and will include detailed information on the new museum, the National Memorial Sculpture Garden, and interactive features to reinforce the literacy-based message of the museum.

[Source: Springfield Museums Press Release]