The Illinois Development Finance Authority on Thursday sold $50.7 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds on behalf of Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Proceeds of the public offering will go toward construction of the new MCA building on Chicago Avenue. The sale is similar to the authority’s $62.2 million bond offering last March to finance the expansion of the Lyric Opera’s home.
The MCA plans to repay the 35-year bonds with internally generated funds. It also is seeking to raise privately $55 million to endow, operate and cover start-up expenses for the new building, which is to open in 1996. According to a prospectus for the bond offering, the MCA, as of June 1, has received $25.1 million in donations and has pledges for another $22.2 million. The MCA expects an operating surplus for the fiscal year that ended Thursday, but one smaller than the year-earlier surplus of $228,309.