KidsQuest is about a third of the way toward its $12.7 million fundraising goal to move its children’s museum out of Factoria and into downtown, keeping its schedule to open by fall 2015.

Since starting its capital campaign two years ago, KidsQuest reports $4.2 million has been raised to date through staff, board members and public and private pledges.

“Right now we’re working with Key Bank to see,” said Shelley Saunders, director of advancement for KidsQuest, about when remodeling the downtown location will start. “We might do some sort of financing that’s typical in capital campaign where they would make a loan against pledges.”

KidsQuest is still waiting to close on purchase of the former Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art. The 13,500-square-foot space will include room for more programs, a new water play area, a semi-truck cab and a rotating doll exhibit, utilizing portions of the Whyel collection, which is now recorded and catalogued.

Saunders said the current KidsQuest location at the Factoria Mall is set to close in June 2015, with the downtown reopening slated for that September. The move is necessary, said Saunders, because the current space is too small to accommodate growing attendance.

“The mall has been a wonderful place for us to start and get to know the community and the community to get to know us,” she said, adding its also hard to stand out as a nonprofit in a mall setting. “Right now we’re just way overbooked and can’t do nearly as many programs as we have demand for.”

KidsQuest needed to hire a consultant and is working with the city and nearby senior living facilities to tackle parking issues at the old doll museum site at 1116 108th Ave. N.E. There are only about 25 stalls available there, Saunders said.

“We’ve really worked on some creative solutions there,” she said, adding senior homes may allow for public and staff parking in exchange for more programs. “It’s an issue that we know is important to our patrons, so it’s a high priority for us to ensure parking for our patrons.”

Downtown businesses also are excited to have a children’s museum downtown, said Saunders, because of how attractive it is to their employees who have children. She said there may be pop-up programs next summer in Ashwood Park, as KidsQuest wants to take advantage of having the playfield close by.

KidsQuest will hold its annual Carnival fundraiser Oct. 11 at the Meydenbauer Center.