Port Discovery

A McDonald's restaurant near the Port Discovery Children's Museum in downtown Baltimore will close in mid-April. Thomas Maddux, a principal of retail brokerage KLNB Retail who is handling leasing at the Shops at Harbor Park at Market Place and Lombard Street, said the fast-foot restaurant decided not to renew its lease after being in the location for a little more than 10 years. Subway and 7-Eleven stores will remain in the building. Staffing firm Manpower recently agreed to move into a 1,100-square-foot space in June, Maddux said.

Schools and government offices aren't the only things closing down in anticipation of today's snowstorm. Here is a partial list, continually being updated, of cultural and commercial institutions shutting down for the day. The American Visionary Art Museum is closed. Tonight's Hesperus Cine-Concert at An Die Musik Live has been postponed. The Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum and Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards are closed. The Baltimore Museum of Art is closed.

Who has more fun than a bunch of kids let loose in Port Discovery? A bunch of grown-ups let loose in Port Discovery and told to "play like you're 10 again." That was the idea behind the children's museum's 10th Birthday Bash. It was the best of both worlds. You could have a martini in one hand, and wield a glue gun in the other, as you decorated a paper hat or tiara for yourself. Or you could pound up a storm in the drum room to work up an appetite before heading to the buffet line. The evening's "parents" - founding chair Doug Becker, CEO Bryn Parchman, event chair Dana DiCarlo and committee members like Cindy Conklin, James Baldwin, Barbara Gamse, Eileen Abato, Monica Brandes and Mary Graul - kept an eye on things, making sure everyone's inner child was satisfied.

John F. Muller, an addictions counselor who earlier had been co-owner of a wholesale seafood business, died Nov. 24 from colon cancer at his Middle River home. He was 78. The son of a Methodist minister and a homemaker, John Frederick Muller was born and raised in Baltimore and graduated in 1951 from City College. Mr. Muller enlisted in the Army, where he served as a military policeman during the Korean War, and in 1976 earned a bachelor's degree from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

If you're going to have a party at a children's museum, then, by golly, it had better be fun. The mood for "Fly Me To The Moon," Port Discovery's third annual gala, was set even before the 675 guests entered the door. A cluster of kids greeted partygoers at the curb by handing each a glow necklace. Folks mingled in the museum, sipping champagne and tasting hors d'oeuvres served from neon-ringed trays. The neon theme continued at dinner as guests were seated around tables enveloped in fluorescent spandex of purple, chartreuse, orange, black and red. But the evening's highlight -- literally -- was the inaugural liftoff of Port Discovery's newest attraction, the HiFlyer Balloon.

IT'S EASY TO understand why the troubled Port Discovery children's museum would want to move to a more visible location near the National Aquarium. But should it then be allowed to hold on to its current home - which it leases from the city for $1 a year - and make a huge profit by leasing it to some other user? A fierce controversy has erupted over this question. The children's museum's boosters argue that this would resolve its long-term financial problems. Critics contend that such an arrangement would amount to a gargantuan taxpayer subsidy over the 96 remaining years of the lease.

By tapping Walt Disney Imagineering to design interactive exhibits for Port Discovery, the $25 million children's museum in Baltimore has bought its ambitious venture instant credibility. In the world of make-believe, nothing has matched Disney's record of consistent success."This is world-class, this is not just another attraction," a beaming Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke declared at a press conference where the Disney contract was announced. He said he hopes that when the new museum opens in 1997 it means "an extra day that people will want to stay in town."

The developer of city-owned land over the Shot Tower Metro station wants to again revise its plans for the parcel, which has sat unused since 2004, the city's development corporation said Wednesday. The Cordish Cos., which gained development rights to 701 E. Baltimore St. in 2005, now wants to build a structure that contains 226 apartments, 15,000 square feet of retail space and 225 parking spots, according to a statement from the Baltimore Development Corp. The revised project is expected to cost about $63 million, according to the BDC statement.

Come dressed as your favorite Harry Potter character this weekend to Port Discovery. It's all part of the third annual "Wizards' Weekend" of activities, games and contests relating to young magician Harry Potter and the books about him. Upon arrival, visitors will receive their Hogwarts class schedule -a virtual "to do" list of events at the museum. Among the array of activities are a scavenger hunt, wand-making and the Hogwarts Final Exam. "Wizards' Weekend" runs 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday at Port Discovery, 35 Market Place.

The voyage to Port Discovery is about to begin, with a national search for an architect and exhibit designer capable of creating a one-of-a-kind attraction that will draw more than 400,000 visitors a year to downtown Baltimore.Port Discovery is the working name for an 80,000-square-foot children's museum planned for construction inside the former FishMarket entertainment complex on Market Place.In a speech last month, museum board Chairman Douglas Becker described it as a "World's Fair for children" and a potential development catalyst for the east end of the Inner Harbor.

The developer of city-owned land over the Shot Tower Metro station wants to again revise its plans for the parcel, which has sat unused since 2004, the city's development corporation said Wednesday. The Cordish Cos., which gained development rights to 701 E. Baltimore St. in 2005, now wants to build a structure that contains 226 apartments, 15,000 square feet of retail space and 225 parking spots, according to a statement from the Baltimore Development Corp. The revised project is expected to cost about $63 million, according to the BDC statement.

When it comes to pinball, Washington's loss is Baltimore's gain. The National Pinball Museum, unexpectedly and unceremoniously kicked out of its Georgetown location last summer, opens Jan. 14 next to Power Plant Live. Soon, in addition to checking out Port Discovery , eating a good meal and listening to some live rock 'n' roll, downtown visitors will be able to exercise their wrists and develop the fine art of keeping a metal ball in play without tilting the machine. In a city where John Waters is king and the delightfully quirky American Visionary Art Museum is one of the most vibrant tourist attractions, a museum devoted to pinball should be right at home.

At half past noon on New Year's Eve, slivers of yellow confetti littered the main lobby of the Maryland Science Center , where employees worked to sweep them up. There, the ball had already dropped - long before the stroke of midnight which, for most, would mark the beginning of 2012. But the midday revelers Saturday said the annual tradition offered by the Science Center, and another at Port Discovery , allows kids - and some parents - to enjoy the traditional New Year's countdown and still get a full night's sleep.

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore will host its annual ZooBOOO! Friday-Sunday, Oct. 28-30, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Children (and adults) can participate in games, go trick-or-treating and take part in a costume contest (11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. each day). Visiting performers will include Silly Goose and Val's Musical Zoo (10:30 a.m.) and Captain Jack (1:30 p.m.). Cost is free with regular zoo admission. Call 410-366-LION. Discover Halloween Baltimore's children's museum, Port Discovery, will host a Fall-O-Ween Festival Saturday, Oct. 29, 11 a.m. The event is designed as a non-scary way for parents and young children to dress up and celebrate Halloween.

Here's a heads up about some discounts for indoor activities you can enjoy this weekend despite the deluge that promises to continue through Monday. Geppi's Entertainment Museum is only charging $5 admission through Sun., Sept. 11 in honor of its fifth anniversary, which I discovered via Baltimore on the Cheap . Tickets are usually $10 for adults, so this is a real deal. The first 529 people to show up at Port Discovery when it opens at 10 a.m. Sat., Sept.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will hold its annual Celebration Gala fundraiser Sat., Sept. 10, 6:30 p.m., at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The event will offer patrons an evening of entertainment and fine dining and a concert (at 8:30 p.m.) will feature conductor Marin Alsop and renowned violinist Hilary Hahn. Tickets run $50 and $75 for the concert. Call 410-783-8054. Ukraine festivities Baltimore City's Showcase of Nations annual Ukrainian Festival will take place Saturday and Sunday, Sept.

For many kids, summer is all about summer camp. A welcome reprieve from the school year, camp is a fun, physical excursion. If your kid would like to sample the summer-camp experience, Port Discovery's got a new family exhibit that offers all the fun of camp without the nasty bugs and poison ivy. "Camp Exploramora," running Saturday through Sept. 2, includes craft activities, an athletic field for kicking the soccer ball around and stables where kids can learn about Maryland horseracing and even braid a horse's tail.

Meet Maisy the mouse at the third in a series of interactive story times at Port Discovery this Saturday. "Story Time With Maisy" presents tales from the Maisy books by Lucy Cousins. The books, which have been developed into a television series on Nick Jr., feature an adventurous little mouse with whom young children can relate. Along with brightly colored illustrations, each book has Maisy learning new things about the world. The Port Discovery event, which is geared toward toddlers and preschoolers, offers up to three stories read by Maisy herself.

Even as they discovered new scars from Tuesday's earthquake - a collapsed roof in Annapolis, broken glass at Baltimore's Port Discovery , a crumbled chimney in Catonsville - officials were most concerned about the unseen damage as they prepared to reopen Maryland buildings to the public Wednesday. Teams of inspectors were deployed throughout the state to assess the structural safety of everything from the airport to the sports stadiums, authorities said. Helicopter pilots conducted aerial surveys, structural engineers searched for fresh foundation cracks and transportation examiners pored over each county's weaker bridges.

Magnets are virtually everywhere. Just ask 6-year-old Madelyn Julien of Owings Mills, who can demonstrate how to use a magnet to separate iron filings from breakfast cereal. The first-grader is among several students from Crossroads Adventist School in Howard County who are presenting an interactive exhibit, "Fun With Magnets," this week at Baltimore's Port Discovery Children's Museum. The exhibit is part of Port Discovery 's STEM Week, which each spring celebrates school courses and programs that focus on science, technology, engineering and math.