Children's Hospital New Orleans plans to construct the Walker's Imaginarium, a new therapeutic space for patients and families, Biz New Orleans reported Sept. 27.
The center is estimated to cost $10 million and will be 12,000 square feet. It will include interactive exhibit space, a covered outdoor porch, an outdoor area for animal encounters, an aquarium, a broadcast studio and a multipurpose room, according to the hospital's website.
It will be named after 9-year-old Walker Beery, who founded Kids Join the Fight, a nonprofit organization to fight pediatric cancer. Walker died of brain cancer in 2021.
"Walker wanted better for every child who has to face a tough diagnosis," Walker's father, Taylor Beery, told Biz New Orleans. "This place will provide moments of joy and normalcy that these children and their families so highly value and so deeply deserve."
Construction is slated to begin in 2023 and last 18 months.