Great Explorations Children’s Museum hit a home run with its new exhibition.

  • Great Explorations Museum unveils Longo's Cove
  • Cove features a 26-foot-tall climber
  • Tampa Bay Ray Evan Longoria & wife donated to the project

Longo’s Cove, which features a 26-foot-tall climber, opened Saturday.

Tampa Bay Ray Evan Longoria and his wife Jamie donated the money for the project. They said they were inspired by their two kids.

"With our kids getting older and wanting something a little bit more involved and tougher for them we started talking about donating something to the museum and something our kids could use for the next foreseeable future,” Evan Longoria said.

The three-dimensional climber is part jungle-gym and part work of art. Climbing from pad to pad, kids get to see paintings of Florida sea life.

"I think it’s going to add more exploration for the older children because there’s a sense of excitement to climb all the way to the top in the rafters,” Angeline Howell, Great Explorations CEO, said.

"My daughter is pretty brave and she could barely make it to the top so there’s plenty of adventure on it,” Longoria said.

The museum said climbing through Longo’s Cove will help strengthen muscles, develop motor skills and improve problem-solving skills.

Longoria said he and his family wanted to give back to the community they have called home for years.

"This is where my kids were born, this is where they have been raised and it’s important to be able to give back and have them be in the community we live in,” Longoria said.