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The Chicago Children’s Museum, currently located at Navy Pier, wants to move to Grant Park. This move would directly violate several legal precedents that prohibit development in Grant Park. If the museum is granted permission to build on previously prohibited ground, Grant Park will become vulnerable to future development and environmental degredation.
Supporters of the Chicago Children’s Museum repeatedly claim that the new building is “for the children.” Yet the museum will be located over a mile from other family attractions, such as the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry. In order to appease angered environmentalists, there have been proposals to put some of the new museum underground—sticking the children out of sight, so long as the museum receives the millions in funding that will accompany their move.
The new museum would also siphon city funding away from other family attractions. The Chicago Park District has agreed to offer subsidies to the Chicago Children’s Museum, so long as it moves to Grant Park. This means that tax dollars will support the move, even though the Museum is privately owned. It also means that public museums such as the Art Institute and the Adler Planetarium will receive smaller pieces of the pie.
Show The Chicago Children’s Museum that they still have to face up to the competition! On November 17, the Chicago Children’s Museum will open a new exhibit called “Skyline,” which is meant to celebrate the art, science, and technology of skyscrapers and buildings. Boycott the Museum and this symbolic exhibit, and instead bring your family to the Kohl Children’s Museum.
If 100 people join this group, we will all meet in the parking lot of the Kohl Children’s museum at noon on November 17. We will bring blank T-shirts, and with our families we will make T-shirts that protest the proposed move of the Chicago Children’s Museum. And then we will enjoy a fun-filled day at the Kohl Children’s Museum!
