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Kristin Korendyke
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
LUDINGTON — Kristin Korendyke has announced that she will retire as executive director of Sandcastles Children’s Museum at the end of the year. Korendyke was one of the founders of the museum.
“My career at Sandcastles has gone along with the life of my youngest child, Halle,” Korendyke said. “I was pregnant with her when Sandcastles began. I became the executive director when she entered kindergarten and now, she is 17-years-old and about to begin her senior year in high school. I just feel that my journey with Sandcastles has come to a logical conclusion. This organization means so much to me and I didn’t want to do it a disservice by leaving at a point where I am no longer energized.”
Sandcastles Children’s Museum started in 2006 with a “summer sampler” program in a building owned by Harriet and Greg Jones in the 400 block of South James Street.
“I had three children at that time and was pregnant with another,” Korendyke said. “We would travel down to the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum and up to the Great Lakes Children’s Museum in Traverse City and I asked, ‘Why can’t we do this in Ludington?'”
Korendyke was a teacher at the time and started to speaking to some of her colleagues.
“It started as a conversation between a couple of women,” Korendyke said. “Then we brought some more women into the conversation. We wanted to create a fun learning and play environment that complimented the education our children were receiving at our local schools.”
On October 25, 2006, Sandcastles was established with a six-member board with Korendyke as its first president. In March, 2007, the first exhibit, Help Us Build the Museum, went on display at the Family AfFair held annually at Mason County Central in Scottville.
The museum officially opened in June 2007 in the South James Street location.
The museum also held a summer science camp and sponsored activities at Friday Night Live and Oktoberfest events in downtown Ludington and the Western Michigan Fair.
In 2008, Sandcastles moved to a building (the old Napa building) in the 200 block of West Ludington Avenue. After two years in that location it was time for a permanent home and the organization acquired the former Elks building at 129 E. Ludington Ave.
“During the early years before we had a building, there was a lot of uncertainty of what was coming next,” Korendyke said. “There were also times of board transition, or struggle before major growth, but we have always had a strong board of directors and a lot of community support that helped us through.
“The first four years of running the museum were a bit experimental to gauge the interest in having a children’s museum in Ludington and to try different types of exhibits and spaces. When we purchased the Elks building in 2011, things began to feel more permanent. I’m very proud of the renovations and upgrades we have made to this building, it has taken years and so many volunteers helping us along the way, but we have come a long way from where we started. And I’m also very proud of the fact that we paid off our land contract on the building three years after the initial purchase. We own this beautiful building in full.
“Our work with the Community Foundation for Mason County set us on a good path from the very beginning. I remember very clearly having a conversation with Mike Oakes of the Community Foundation when we first opened our doors on James Street. He told us we needed to get an Endowment Fund started right away, and even though at the time we were struggling to pay our staff, we followed his advice. Today that Endowment Fund has raised $277,000 to protect the longevity of our organization.”
In 2011, Korendyke resigned as board president and was hired as the organization’s first executive director.
Korendyke is quick to credit her board and the community for the success of Sandcastles.
“With so much local support, we were able to establish and grow this museum year by year and little by little,” she said. “We went from 500 visitors our first year to 29,000 visitors last year; we started with a handful of members and now have over 300 yearly members. We are firmly established in our community, and after 18 years in business, there are grown children who have wonderful memories made at Sandcastles, including my own.
“Our volunteers and staff are one of the main reasons Sandcastles is so special. We have had so many wonderful people contribute their time, talent, and financial donations to help us build this dream.”
Over the years Korendyke said she has enjoyed the evolution of the museum, adding that she is proud of all the exhibits.
“I have had such a good time with creating each one of the exhibits,” Korendyke said. “I really do a deep dive into whatever subject we are focusing on, and I have learned so much and met really wonderful people to help along the way. I’m really a big kid at heart, and my imagination has created some really fun experiences.”
Sandcastles will begin an immediate search for a new executive director. Korendyke said once a new executive director is in place, she plans to step away from the organization.
“The organization needs to continue to grow and it’s only fair to step away and allow the new director the freedom and space to accomplish this.”
Korendyke said she still plans to be involved in the community. She and her husband, Ben, own Ludington Beach House Hotel which they will continue to operate.
“I’m looking forward to an opportunity to take this next step in my life,” Korendyke said. “Sandcastles will always be dear to my heart.”
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