Chicago Children's Museum Signs Loooonnnnnggg-Term Lease To Stay At Navy Pier
By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 30, 2012 6:20PM
What a difference a few years (and a new mayoralty) makes: The Chicago Children’s Museum signed a 90-year lease to stay at its current location at Navy Pier. That means your children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy the museum at its current location into the 22nd century. (Hopefully hovercraft and transporter technology will have been perfected by then, and the parking meters will be back under city control.)
The new agreement will also expand the size of the facility from its current 57,000 square feet to 84,000 square feet and ends speculation the Children’s Museum would leave Navy Pier. In 2008 former Mayor Richard M. Daley backed a plan to move the museum to Grant Park, a trial balloon that was quickly shot down by park proponents and 42nd Ward Ald. Brendan Reilly. Reilly offered a list of 24 places the Children’s Museum could relocate that weren’t Grant Park, and the proposal quickly lost steam once Daley became a lame duck mayor. A new change in leadership at the Children’s Museum brought a renewed interest in staying—and working with—Navy Pier.
Museum president and CEO Jennifer Farrington called the lease an “enormous milestone” for the museum and fitting it happened “during the month we celebrate our organization’s 30th anniversary.” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a separate statement the deal showed “a long-term commitment” by the museum and Navy Pier to Chicago and it residents.
"The museum’s expansion will serve as a strong pillar in the redevelopment vision for Navy Pier to remain a world-class destination and an attractive public space for the growth of cultural and commercial partners."