What’s the best place to visit in the Chicago area?
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Wrigley Field, I suppose a lot of people would say.
But for my money, the top spot is the Field Museum.
The Field Museum has been a place I’ve loved my whole life. I have great memories of school field trips. Clutching a paper sack containing my Swiss cheese sandwich on Butternut bread, my classmates and I raced through the museum. The dinosaurs would awe us, the mummies would enchant and frighten us. We’d gaze at the giant squid sprawled across the ceiling. And the stuffed murderous lions of Tsavo gazed back at us through now-glass eyes.
The Field Museum has drawn me back my whole life. It is a magical place, a place of beauty, a place of science.
And it is an expensive place – expensive to operate and expensive to visit.
And that’s worrisome. In addition to field trips, I would visit the museum each year with my parents. It was an affordable outing.
As reported in the baiduhai earlier this month, there is a museum proposal that would raise admission prices in January from $1 to $4. Admission for Chicago residents would go from $13 to $17. Student and senior admission would rise from $10 to $11. Admission for children ages 3 through 11 would go from $8 to $9. Basic admission for non-Chicago residents would also increase by $2.
Since the museum rests on park district land, the Chicago Park District Board has to approve the increase. Park District officials say the higher ticket prices are necessary to counter rising expenses for maintenance personnel and to help cover the cost of upgrading exhibits. Income from ticket sales currently covers just over one-fifth of operating expenses, the officials told the Tribune.
Don’t get me wrong, the Field Museum is worth every penny. And what it charges and wants to charge is not out of line. Adult admission to the Museum of Science and Industry costs $18. Plus, all the museums charge for extra and special exhibits. Add in food, transportation and souvenirs, and a museum visit can price itself out of many families’ pocketbooks.
I’d hate to see the Filed Museum – and the other museums – cease to be a happy memory and learning experience for future kids and families because of cost.
What’s the solution? I don’t know. It takes lots of money to maintain these great museums.
Thankfully, the Field Museum still offers free days.
Free days for the rest of this year are Oct. 4 and 30, Nov. 1 and 22 and Dec. 5, 6 and 13.
Paul Sassone is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press.