BAXTER — No longer just a concept, the WonderTrek Children’s Museum is taking shape in Baxter.

Museum Project Director Peter Olson took a group of community members through the muddy, snowy woods on Tuesday, April 7, to show off the progress on the multi-million dollar project.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to see other people on the campus, visualizing it with me and seeing their reactions,” Olson said. “It’s very rewarding to see other people catch the excitement for this.”

That excitement started as a pipe dream about a decade ago, dreamed up by Sourcewell CEO Chad Coauette in 2015. Sourcewell has since donated $5 million to the project, which ceremoniously broke ground in July and is now a full-blown construction site as crews prepare the 9 acres of land off Highway 371 for the anticipated fall opening.

The 2,500-square-foot adventure outfitter studio is the focal point of the project, serving as the first stop for visitors to the museum. Large glass garage doors will launch adventurers into the outdoors after equipping them with discovery packs full of cameras, field guides and other kid-friendly tools to further enjoyment.

The farther away kids get from the studio building, the wilder the fun becomes. At the biggest intersection of the Robert and Rachel Nystrom Trail System will sit an elaborate treehouse, with five platforms 36 feet up in the air. Designed for children of all ages and abilities, the treehouse will be wheelchair accessible and promises a daring adventure for even the smallest visitors.

“The youngest will be able to start by testing their bravery to get up to the first platform when they’re 18 months old,” Olson said. “By the time they’re a couple months older, they’re getting up to the next one. By the time they’re 3, I bet they’re getting probably all the way up to the top — even if they don’t know how to get back down.”

Continuing down the winding path through the trees lies the Roots and Rigging exhibit, with partially built riggings that will encourage kids to keep building onto them. A horizontal zipline will allow children to transport their materials — and potentially their little siblings, Olson joked — across the area, making for fun, physical challenges.

“It’s really based off — how do children play when they’re left up to their own devices in the woods?” Olson said of the Roots and Rigging area. “And how do we support them?”

A nearby mound of dirt stands ready for kids to cruise down after building their own sleds. One of WonderTrek’s signature programs, Olson explained, is Slide! Design Your Own Ride, where play workers show up with different materials like cardboard, tarps, staplers and vinyl materials that allow kids to build and test out their own sleds.

“We’re creating the perfect size test hill,” Olson said.

Following the path back into the clearing, those on Tuesday’s tours saw the area dug out for the wetland pond that will be open for activities like kayaking and lessons in water safety. A nearby stormwater retention pond will teach kids about sustainably treating stormwater.

Leading into the wetland pond will be a rocky creek running down the hillside.

“Children will be able to manipulate the landscape of it to some degree,” Olson said. “They’ll be able to move rocks, build bridges, divert water.”

Three different gardens will further promote outdoor learning and play, with fruiting trees and shrubs, raised garden beds to plant veggies and a pollinator garden to attract critters.

With all the various attractions for families and kids of all ages, Brainerd Lakes Chamber President Matt Kilian sees the museum as just another attraction to bring tourists to the area.

A longtime board member who’s seen the project develop over the past 10 years, Kilian said he’s excited to finally see it come to fruition during his last year on the board.

“It’s amazing because for so many years it was just a pipe dream,” he said.

A direct sightline to Highway 371 will allow travelers to see the museum sign and glimpse the wetland pond, drawing them in for a weekend activity.

“You can make a weekend out of the Children’s Museum, the National Loon Center, some of the other amenities that we have up here,” Kilian said.

While the museum is on track to open in the fall, another $800,000 in donations is still needed to complete Phase 1 of the project.

“This is not conceptual anymore; this is real,” said Paul Drange, chair of the museum board and chief regional solutions officer at Sourcewell. “You’re all out here today seeing how real this is. This thing’s going to open up in the fall, and it’s going to be awesome. And we want as much community involvement as we can.”

For more information on the WonderTrek Children’s Museum or ways to get involved, visit wondertrekmuseum.org.

“It’s amazing because for so many years it was just a pipe dream.”

Matt Kilian, Brainerd Lakes Chamber President and longtime board member