The historic News Tribune Building in downtown Beaver Falls has been a part of our city’s story for generations. Once home to the city’s primary newspaper, it now becomes a canvas for the future, a space where play, creativity, learning, and community connection will flourish for all generations.
At Neighborhood North, we are transforming this four-story, 18,000-square-foot landmark into a children’s museum and cultural campus that blends history, innovation, and hands-on learning. By restoring and repurposing the building, we honor Beaver Falls’ heritage while creating a vibrant, playful future.
The News Tribune Building is more than a landmark- it is a canvas for Beaver Falls’ past, present, and future. Restoring this historic building is about more than bricks and mortar; it is an act of reclaiming the city’s story, preserving the community's heritage, stories, and shared identity, while transforming it into a symbol of innovation, equity, and resilience. Every window and wall reflect decades of history, and by updating the space for modern accessibility, sustainability, and interactive learning, we bridge the past with a bold vision for the future.
This restored landmark will serve as a beacon of creativity, play, and possibility, a place where children, families, educators, and artists come together to imagine, learn, and create. Neighborhood North is creating more than a museum; it is a multi-generational hub. Families connect over interactive exhibits, hands-on workshops, and public events; local artists find space to teach, collaborate, and innovate; and adults discover opportunities for professional development, volunteering, and lifelong learning.
The Trib’s ropes course, teaching kitchen, rooftop garden, and flexible event spaces engage all ages in playful, hands-on experiences, whether climbing the ropes course, experimenting in the kitchen, designing the rooftop garden, performing on stage, or participating in a school program. Together with the Carnegie Free Library and the city’s green park connector, the building forms a downtown cultural ecosystem where families, schools, and visitors can seamlessly explore indoor and outdoor opportunities for play, learning, and creative expression.
By restoring this historic space and activating it as a cultural campus, Neighborhood North ensures that play, creativity, and cultural opportunity belong to all generations, strengthening Beaver Falls’ identity as a regional hub for creativity, learning, and community connection while fostering civic engagement, equity, and economic vitality.
The Trib is more than a museum, it’s a multi-generational hub. Families explore interactive exhibits and workshops, local artists teach and collaborate, and adults engage in volunteering, professional development, and lifelong learning. Integrated with the Carnegie Free Library and the city’s green park connector, the building forms a downtown cultural ecosystem for indoor and outdoor play, learning, and creative expression.
Visitors will experience:
Neighborhood North partners with schools across western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia to extend classroom learning. Through field trips, curriculum-aligned workshops, and teacher resources, students gain hands-on experiences in STEM, arts, and play-based education, developing creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration skills.
The Mobile MakerLab brings these experiences directly to schools and parks, making learning accessible to every child in the region.
Children’s museums are powerful economic drivers:
By anchoring a cultural campus downtown, Neighborhood North aims to revitalize Main Street, spark new businesses, and strengthen Beaver Falls and Beaver County as a hub of creativity, learning, and innovation.
Locating the museum downtown also ensures accessibility, visibility, and equity, connecting families with limited transportation or economic resources to engaging learning opportunities.
Last year, more than 10,000 visitors came through our doors, and we partnered with over 100 schools, libraries, Head Starts, and community organizations. Children coded robots, designed aquaponics systems, and performed original plays—developing literacies across language arts, computer science, ecology, and the arts.
Our Teaching Artist Apprenticeship program provides paid opportunities to local artists while inspiring the next generation. Every year:
Neighborhood North is more than a museum: we are a destination that fuels economic revitalization, a partner to schools across the region, and a place where families belong, grow, and dream together. Most importantly, we are a driver of long-term vitality—because when children develop creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration through play, they are building the skills our workforce and community will need to thrive for generations.
The Capital Campaign for the News-Tribune Building will enable us to expand this impact dramatically. Our new 18,000-square-foot, four-story campus will be nine times the size of our current facility, enabling:
By supporting the Capital Campaign, donors directly multiply the reach and effectiveness of every program, transforming lives, strengthening Beaver County’s economy, and building a legacy of creativity, learning, and community for generations to come.
As of 2025, Neighborhood North has raised $2 million toward our $11 million goal, an exciting milestone on our journey to transform the Tribune Building into a vibrant, community-centered museum.
Recent accomplishments include:
Every step brings us closer to a museum where creativity, imagination, and community thrive -thank you for helping us make it possible!
The News Tribune Building will be a beacon of possibility, a place where children, families, artists, and educators imagine, play, and create the future together.
Your support fuels more than exhibits; it drives a movement, contributing to Beaver County’s cultural, educational, and economic renewal. Play a defining role in our Capital Campaign: tour the Tribune Building, see our vision firsthand, and leave a legacy that empowers the next generation. To learn more, email christine@neighborhoodnorth.org.
You can also support through our Giving Gears Campaign, helping us build a thriving, equitable, and vibrant downtown cultural hub for generations to come.
Discover more and support the Tribune transformation through Giving Gears!
From the very beginning, Neighborhood North has used art as a prophetic voice, helping us imagine what’s possible for our children, our city, and our shared future.
In the summer of 2018, Executive Director Christine Kroger collaborated with teens from Trails Ministries to design the IMAGINE Mural, a creative project that invited young people to explore personal and collective imagination. Just a few months later, the mural was installed on the exterior of the Tribune Building, the future home of Neighborhood North Museum of Play.
In the years that followed, the museum embraced profound moments of change and growth:
Through every season, one thing remained constant: art has helped us envision what lay ahead.
The idea for a new mural began as a conversation with artists Shane Piltser (@outafterdark) and Max Gonzales (@goodboygems) of Do What You Love about creating a piece that would reflect Neighborhood North’s values and help the community imagine what the Tribune Building is becoming.
That idea quickly grew into a joyful collaboration. Over three days, Shane and Max, both committed to mentoring young Beaver Falls artists, created a vibrant, interactive graffiti mural filled with color, play, and energy.
Installed on our PLAY floor in May 2023, the mural captures our mission to build community, spark imagination, and celebrate the beauty and potential of our future home.
In September 2024, Neighborhood North welcomed Kingfisher Art, a temporary mural gifted and brought to life by the museum's friends Sophia and Tim Kaulen. This vibrant painting occupies a transitional space, a “placeholder” that hints at the creativity and magic yet to come as we begin renovations on our new museum home.
The Kingfisher itself carries a story: the original drawing was made by Sophia at just seven or eight years old, and this mural is the first shared creation of this father-daughter duo.
In nature, the kingfisher is among the most beautiful birds, and across cultures, it symbolizes transformation, resilience, prophetic insight, creation, and prosperity. As it graces our space, it brings a message of wisdom, hope, and imagination, perfectly capturing the spirit and future of Neighborhood North.
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Fly on over to Neighborhood North, Saturday, March 14th, from 3 pm-5 pm for our first ever Drone Workshop! Students in 3rd-5th grade can explore the art and science of drones with Captain Davey from Angle of Attack Imagery LLC. During this special drop-off event, children will get to build their own drone model and get a hands-on opportunity to see from a drone's perspective. Cost is $3.00 a child. Space is limited so secure a spot here!
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