The Proposed CCM in Daley Bicentennial Plaza:
Myths and Facts
Myth: Green space will be lost.
Myth: The proposal violates
open-space protections.
Myth: The proposal was changed to pass the City Council but it will be changed back later.
Myth: The park would remain undisrupted without this proposal.
Myth: The museum has refused to explore alternative sites.
Myth: The kids are being buried in a dark underground space.
Myth: The proposal is
illegal under Illinois Supreme Court decisions.
Myth: This violates A. Montgomery Ward's
legacy.
Myth: The plan includes tall structures.
Myth: The lesson from the book "Forever
Open, Clear and Free: The Struggle for Chicago's Lakefront"
is that the museum does not belong in the park.
Myth: The museum is only used by children from affluent parts of Chicago and the suburbs.
Myth: The museum will create local traffic congestion.
Myth: The plan incorporates multiple for-profit
restaurants.
Myth: The museum is going
to serve liquor to visitors.
Myth: This amounts to rich people and corporations buying a piece of the park.
Myth: Local taxpayers will be on the hook for the cost of the museum.
Myth: This is a private museum.
Myth: There is a requirement that museums in the park not charge admission.
Myth: There is little support for this proposal.
Myth: The museum is a glorified playground.
Myth: Green space will be lost.
Fact: There will be no loss of green space under the proposal, and open space will actually increase. The museum and a new state-of-the art field house will replace the Daley Bicentennial Plaza field house and the adjoining concrete plaza, which is badly in need of repair. The museum plan leaves room for such amenities as the ice rink and playground. Because it would be carved out of existing garage space below grade and feature a green roof at street level, the museum would be well-integrated into the park and would preserve views of the park, city and lake.
Myth: The proposal violates open-space protections.
Fact: Under the plan, no structures are being built in Grant Park and the museum and new field house will replace the existing field house and some garage space… Alderman Reilly himself told the Chicago Sun-Times on September 26: “If they’re not building any structures in Grant Park and they’re technically building it in a garage, that wouldn’t violate the open-space protections.”
Myth: The proposal was changed to pass the City Council but it will be changed back later.
Fact: By law, the plan cannot be materially changed after it is approved by the Plan Commission and City Council without undergoing the same public process.
Myth: The park would remain undisrupted without this proposal.
Fact: The Chicago Park District is planning a major construction project for the same part of the park beginning later this year. The roof for the parking garage under the park needs to be repaired. This requires the removal of the entire park space bounded by Columbus, Lake Shore Drive, Randolph and Monroe. The construction for the new Chicago Children’s Museum would be concurrent with the roof project.
Myth: The museum has refused to explore alternative sites.
Fact: The museum exercised due diligence before settling on the Daley Bicentennial location. No other location met the museum’s four core requirements as well as Daley Bicentennial Plaza:
• A central downtown location
• Easy access to public transportation from all corners of the city
• Access to green space
• Plentiful adjacent covered parking, important for families with young children
Chicago Children’s Museum’s desire is to serve as a gateway for children and families to discover the city’s other wonderful offerings, from museums to parks to downtown itself. This site achieves this important goal. In particular, it gives visitors from all over Chicago an opportunity to experience the city’s greatest lakefront park, which many of them never get to see. It also would help make Daley Bicentennial Plaza a year-round destination.
Myth: The kids are being buried in a dark underground space.
Fact: The new museum will in fact be brighter than the current museum location. The design incorporates creative use of windows built into the park slope to illuminate the various below-ground floors and galleries.
Myth: The proposal is illegal under Illinois Supreme Court decisions.
Fact: The plan is in compliance with existing court decisions, and there is strong precedent for this type of proposal. Other projects have gone ahead legally in Grant Park since the decisions, including Daley Bicentennial Plaza itself, which was built in 1976 when that part of the park was converted from a surface parking lot and rail yards. At that time, a two-level parking structure and field house were built, with the park added on top of the roof for the combined structure.
Millennium Park serves as a shining example of how this type of proposal can actually improve the park, all within the law. A central criteria set forth by the Supreme Court is the issue of preserving views of the lakefront, which this proposal does.
Myth: This violates A. Montgomery Ward’s legacy.
Fact: This part of the park did not exist when Ward was alive. It was built in the 1970s from what had been landfill, railroad tracks and subsequently a ground-level, open-sky parking lot. Park experts believe this proposal meets the spirit of his and Daniel Burnham’s visions for the lakefront because it exposes more children from all neighborhoods to the park, and because the museum will be more sensitively integrated into the park than the current 1970s concrete field house and plaza.
As the authority on the lakefront, Lois Wille has noted, “Chicago Children’s Museum in Grant Park is compatible with the true spirit of Aaron Montgomery Ward’s and Daniel Burnham’s visions for a lakefront preserved for all the people of Chicago.”
Myth: The plan includes tall structures.
Fact: The tallest part of the proposal is an all-glass sculptural entrance on upper Randolph, which will not exceed 20 feet. The sculptural entrance is important because it will serve the museum, the existing parking garage and the park district field house, its elevator making that part of the park ADA-accessible for the first time.
In comparison, the Harris Theater lobby next door is 39 feet above upper Randolph Street and the Pritzker Pavilion in nearby Millennium Park is 130 feet above ground.
Myth: The lesson from the book “Forever Open, Clear and Free: The Struggle for Chicago’s Lakefront” is that the museum does not belong in the park.
Fact: The author herself, Lois Wille, supports the museum’s relocation to Grant Park, based on the conclusions of her book. Ms. Wille, who also is the former editorial page editor of the Chicago Tribune, has stated publicly she resents the selective use of quotes from her book to justify opposing the museum’s proposal.
In a opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune, she wrote: “It’s time to cool the hot rhetoric and consider the facts.”
The facts about the proposal, she wrote, are: “[Grant Park] belongs to no single ward, no single group of residents…Any addition or subtraction must enhance its role as Chicago’s original ‘public ground,’ welcoming all the people of the city, whatever their race, age or economic status. The proposed Children’s Museum meets this test…. The museum will not rob Grant Park of green space or intrude on its vistas….it will replace the ugly, 12,000 square-foot concrete bunker that is the current field house…with a 20,000 square-foot, grass-topped [one]...a new Children’s Museum in Grant Park offers a unique opportunity to connect young children to the history of their city.”
Myth: The museum is only used by children from affluent parts of Chicago and the suburbs.
Fact: The museum caters to children from all parts of Chicago, with a special focus on isolated communities. The museum has 400 community partners across city neighborhoods, and routinely takes programs and exhibits on the road to various communities. In fact, nearly 10 percent of people exposed to museum programs are served through traveling community programs away from the museum itself.
Thirty percent of our visitors pay nothing at all, and many more pay greatly reduced rates. In addition to many free or subsidized programs for Chicago Public Schools, we offer free Mondays once a month and free Thursday nights every week. When off-site programs are taken into account, half of the people served by the museum pay nothing.
Fifty-two percent of museum visitors identify themselves as being African-American, Latino, Asian, Native American or of mixed race.
Myth: The museum will create local traffic congestion.
Fact: Traffic experts have determined, and the Chicago Department of Transportation has agreed, that there would be minimal impact on upper Randolph. In fact, the proposed site is uniquely suited to ensure efficient traffic management, as Randolph at that location offers three different levels: one for pedestrian access, one for school buses and taxis, and the lowest one for service vehicles. This will help ensure safety by keeping children away from traffic. Visitors with cars will access the site through the parking garage ramp on Columbus, not via Randolph.
Myth: The plan incorporates multiple for-profit restaurants.
Fact: As an amenity to visitors, the museum’s plan includes a café that will focus on a healthy and affordable menu, as well as areas to enjoy light snacks.
Myth: The museum is going to serve liquor to visitors.
Fact: There will be no liquor for sale or liquor available in any way at the museum during museum hours. Chicago Children's Museum’s proposed amendment to the Planned Development would allow the museum to apply for a liquor license for functions that may occasionally be held outside of museum hours.
Myth: This amounts to rich people and corporations buying a piece of the park.
Fact: Chicago–including all of today’s great cultural institutions from the Adler Planetarium to the Art Institute to the Field Museum–was built on a long and proud tradition of civic and business leaders working together to make the city a better place to live. It is the same desire to contribute to the community that is driving this project, which includes not only the museum but a new 20,000 square-foot field house and gym. The museum will recognize a major donor, Allstate, in the same way that funders are recognized throughout Millennium Park. The Chicago Park District will naturally continue to serve as a steward for both the park and the field house.
Myth: Local taxpayers will be on the hook for the cost of the museum.
Fact: Funding for the new museum will come from philanthropic gifts by individuals, corporations, foundations and other sources.
Myth: This is a private museum.
Fact: Chicago Children Museum holds the same not-for-profit status as other cultural institutions such as the Art Institute or the Field Museum, and is run by a volunteer board of directors.
Myth: There is a requirement that museums in the park not charge admission.
Fact: Other museums in the park, including the nearby Art Institute, charge admission. Thirty percent of Chicago Children’s Museum visitors pay nothing at all. In addition, the museum’s admission cost for a family is well below the average for other Chicago museums.
Myth: There is little support for this proposal.
Fact: There is broad support for this proposal across Chicago’s neighborhoods. The All Chicago Children’s Museum Committee, which backs the proposal, counts members in every Chicago ward, and the museum has received support from hundreds of individuals for the relocation to Grant Park.
Myth: The museum is a glorified playground.
Fact: The museum is a nationally and internationally renowned cultural institution devoted to the understanding and advancement of child development and learning.
The museum offers a much-needed safe place to learn and play, and play is the way children learn best at very young ages. The National Science Foundation has recognized the museum as both a research institution and a place for science and math learning. The museum is a member of both state and national museum associations.
Experts in child development know the importance of rich, meaningful, concrete experiences in the early years—they lead to gains in language and concept development. They strengthen social relationships with family and peers; they help form attitudes about lifelong learning, and lead to school readiness. Unfortunately, many children do not have sufficient access to play environments that stimulate this vital development.
All of the exhibits, programs, and activities offered by Chicago Children’s Museum are developed specifically to encourage developmentally-appropriate learning, inquiry, and experimentation, and in many cases, reinforce the curriculum of the Chicago Public Schools. Every activity is specially designed to teach different skills to children at different stages of development. For example, our Skyline exhibit helps young children develop motor skills, while older children learn about engineering and physics.
Chicago Children's Museum also offers programs and resources for the important adults in children’s lives—educators, parents and caregivers—that respond to the needs and interests of young children.
| Sun-Wed & Fri | 10am-5pm |
| Thur & Sat | 10am-8pm |
| CCM will be open 10am-8pm every Friday from June 20 through August 29. Click here for other special hours.
Target Free First Mondays First Monday of every month: Free admission for ages 15 and under. Groups of 15 or more must register by calling 312.321.6539. Kraft Free Family Night Thursday evenings: 5-8pm Free admission for everyone |
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Copyright 2008 Chicago Children's Museum || All Rights Reserved
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