Shedd, Field Dream Big
By Margaret Lyons in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 14, 2007 7:43PM
Busy day for local museums: the Field Museum is raising its admissions prices, and the Shedd Aquarium is looking to expand its office space. Adler Planetarium? Anything? No?
Shedd officials say their 300 employees are cramped, thus an additional 24,000 square feet of workspace, plus "a ground level terrace on the north side of the structure, build another elevator and upgrade its food-service kitchen." The proposed addition apparently wouldn't really affect how the Oceanarium looks, but it would cost $45 million.
Maybe they could take some fund-raising tips from the Field Museum. In response to decreased government funding and increased operation costs, the Field folk are asking the Park District to approve their request to charge more for admission. The new prices, with the old prices in parentheses
- City senior citizens: $10 ($6)
- Non-city senior citizens: $12 ($7)
- City adults: $12 ($10)
- Non-city adults: $14 ($12)
- City students: $10 ($6)
- Non-city students: $12 ($7)
- City kids, ages 4-11: $8 ($6)
- Non-city kids: $9 ($7)
- Kids under 4: Free
Oooh, hotcha, the Park District budet is now available for public viewing. If you found the CTA budget a little dull, then we'll warn you that this will put you in a coma. But if you've aways wondered what a floricuturistapprentice makes, then we enthusiastically encourage you to turn to page 7. (Or we could just tell you. It's $41, 953.)
Sue photo by ka12en