Long-discussed plans to open a museum dedicated to children in Qatar are now back in the works, according to a tender notice published in local newspapers.

Qatar Museums has opened bidding for project management consultants to work on the design and construction of the Qatar’s Children’s Museum, an advertisement in today’s Gulf Times states.

Prospective companies have until Sept. 29 to submit initial tenders according to the notice, which does not give any further details on the project.

A children’s museum has been planned for years, but QM has yet to publicly issue any information about its location or expected opening date.

Previously published adverts for positions at the museum describe the facility as a “new family museum based on areas of the arts (visual and performing) and the environment (including ecology).”

No one from QM was immediately available to comment on the latest notice.

Budget cuts

The news comes amid big government spending cuts in the public sector, and several rounds of job losses at QM in recent years.

In March, The Art Newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying that plans for Qatar’s children’s museum are among the projects that “have been shelved” amid the cutbacks.

A year before that, QM Chairperson Sheikha al Mayassa bint Hamad Al Thani said during a public talk that the museum would be one of three new facilities that would launch in the coming years.

The other two included a 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum and an Orientalist Museum.

The sports museum will be housed in the east wing of Khalifa Stadium, which is being redeveloped for the 2022 World Cup. Its construction is due to be complete by the end of this year.

It will include items and interactive exhibits demonstrating Qatar’s growing relationship with sports.

Thoughts?