PEABODY — City officials gathered at North Shore Children’s Museum Wednesday afternoon to cut the ribbon on the new “Piggy Bank” exhibit created in collaboration with North Shore Bank.
Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt Jr. and North Shore Bank President and CEO Kevin Tierney served as the primary ribbon cutters, flanked by Ward 2 Councilor Peter McGinn, Ward 4 Councilor Julie Daigle, and members of the museum’s board. The exhibit was funded by the bank and designed by NES Group, a design firm typically responsible for designing full-size banks.
In brief remarks before the ribbon cutting, Bettencourt called the museum “one of the true gems” of the community.
“It’s something we’re extremely proud of here in the city,” he said. “We’re expecting and hoping for even bigger things in the years ahead.”
Bettencourt said the exhibit represents a “very special investment” into the city by the bank, which he called “one of our very best community partners here in the city.”
“Time and again, North Shore Bank has always been there for the city of Peabody,” he said. “This addition that has been made here through a very generous donation just came out even better than I had hoped. I know it’s going to be one of the very best attractions for our little ones that come here.”
Tierney spoke after Bettencourt, saying North Shore Bank is delighted to be a part of the project, and wanted to be a part of the museum from the beginning. The exhibit is both fun for kids and “hopefully educational,” Tierney said.
“We’re really happy with the way that the branch came out,” he said. “We think that this is terrific.”
The exhibit itself takes up the same space in the museum where the teller line of former occupant T.D. Bank was, and is the first thing entrants into the building see. Museum patrons can take advantage of a “drive-through” ATM and some toy cash registers. A red Mercedes is parked behind the exhibit, and a road encircles the entire thing.
NES Group Vice President Paul Cavolowsky said his team first pitched the idea of the car actually moving around the exhibit, but safety concerns from museum officials left it a stationary feature.
Cavolowsky said the exhibit took roughly four to five months to complete.
“The original vision was just getting kids involved, getting some financial literacy out there to them. When we look at it that way, that’s exactly what they wanted to do, get the understanding of the importance of savings early on,” he said.
Cavolowsky cited the pig-themed Plinko as his favorite aspect of the new exhibit.
Museum Executive Director Ali Haydock said the exhibit is already a hit with kids.
“They love playing pretend and doing the transactions and that’s really how kids learn,” she said. “This gives them an opportunity to practice those interpersonal skills. … We’re finding a lot of parents like to hang kind of around the perimeter and do a transaction with their kids. It’s fun to see those relationships strengthen through play.”
