Frequently Asked Questions About the New CCM

Why are you leaving Navy Pier?
Why Daley Bicentennial Plaza?
How will the new Chicago Children's Museum benefit the community?
How big will the new museum be?
What are the features of the new museum?
Who is the architect?
How will the new museum impact traffic and parking?
Is there any other construction planned for Daley Bicentennial Plaza?
When will the museum be built and when will it open?
Will your location at Navy Pier still be accessible during construction?
Where can I view plans for the new building?

Why are you leaving Navy Pier?
Chicago Children's Museum wishes to expand its programming and become a stand-alone, state-of-the-art facility in the heart of the city, accessible to all children and families.

Why Daley Bicentennial Plaza?
Daley Bicentennial Plaza, at the north end of Grant Park, is centrally located and accessible by all modes of transportation. In addition, Chicago Children's Museum's presence in Daley Bi will enhance existing partnerships with the park's other world-class institutions, such as the Art Institute, and reinforce the city's reputation as a vibrant cultural center.

How will the new Chicago Children's Museum benefit the community?
The addition of Chicago Children's Museum to this neighborhood would provide a year-round family learning resource that would add tremendous value to the immediate neighborhood, as well as the entire city. Also, the new museum design includes the construction of a brand new field house with a full size gymnasium to expand on Park District community programming.

How big will the new museum be?
The current plan calls for a 100,000 square-foot museum, with nearly 100% of the museum below upper Randolph Street.

What are the features of the new museum?
The museum will be environmentally sustainable, LEED-qualified, and will tastefully complement the surrounding park with accessible green roofs, natural light, and ventilation, and public green space. In addition, an on-site café, with a large area for brown bag lunches, would offer families healthy food choices.

Who is the architect?
Krueck & Sexton, the architects behind such notable structures as the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park, the new Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, and the renovation of the S.R. Crown Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

How will the new museum impact traffic and parking?
Chicago Children's Museum is sensitive to traffic growth in the neighborhood and has committed to implementing a new, comprehensive traffic plan, in collaboration with Chicago Department of Transportation, that would meet the needs of residents and visitors alike. The plan minimizes museum traffic on upper Randolph Street by utilizing mid-level and lower Randolph for school and community group drop-offs, as well as direct vehicular access to the museum from the East Monroe parking garage.

Is there any other construction planned for Daley Bicentennial Plaza?
The waterproof membrane over the Monroe Street parking garage has reached the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced. In the next four years, a comprehensive repair and re-design project, overseen by the Chicago Park District, will entail removing and replacing the entire top layer of the Daley Bicentennial Park landscape. CCM hopes to serve as a catalyst for the beautification of a new park.

When will the museum be built and when will it open?
Once approvals for a planned development are in place, construction should take approximately 24 months.

Will your location at Navy Pier still be accessible during construction?
CCM at Navy Pier will operate without interruption until the doors open to the new museum.

Where can I view plans for the new building?
Click on the thumbnails below to view the proposed new Chicago Children's Museum.

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