Nature IS closer than you think. The Notebaert Nature Museum is opening three new exhibits to explore wetlands, rivers and living things big and small. The completed transformation will be celebrated Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 2 and 3, with the opening of new exhibits, free admission, a chance to shake hands with Bubba, the alligator, and more.
Museum transformations include three new permanent exhibit experiences: Rooftop Stop, RiverWorks and Mysteries of the Marsh. Rooftop Stop, an indoor exhibit showcasing the Museum’s expanded rooftop gardens and other new landscaping elements added directly to the Museum building, gives visitors an opportunity to design their own green roof. RiverWorks is an interactive water play exhibit with hands-on activities, including building dams and changing water oxygen levels, illustrating the importance of river ecology. Mysteries of the Marsh highlights one of the Midwest’s unique ecosystems through hands-on, interactive activities. The exhibit includes the Istock Family Look-In Animal Lab where visitors can observe Museum research in progress while watching water snakes diving, tadpoles swimming, praying mantises feeding, butterflies emerging from chrysalides and more!
Visitors have already been enjoying some of the Nature Museum’s remodeled permanent exhibits. The Extreme Green House and Hands-on Habitat both opened in 2003. The "Green" family took up residence in The Extreme Green House to introduce visitors to the seen and unseen creatures that share our homes with us and why, and to display the interrelationship between the environment and our everyday lives. Hands-on, even smell-on, activities and live demonstrations are scattered throughout the House. Hands-on Habitat grew to new heights in late 2003. The new 35-foot Mazza Foundation Tree of Life spread its roots in the Habitat, an exhibit designed especially for little explorers up to age seven. The dynamic two-story treehouse allows children to discover the lifecycle of trees and to learn about creatures that call trees home.
Outside the building, improvements took place as well. The greening project, "It IS Easy to be Green!", included the addition of 15,000 square-feet of rooftop gardens that help regulate temperature, conserve energy and money, and minimize non-point source pollution. The three-story John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Cliff Garden on the south wall resembles natural ravine walls found in Illinois. Other additions include climbing native vines and a near tripling of the existing prairie garden around the Museum.
Many individuals and public and private entities have made the Museum’s transformation possible. "We’re grateful to all who have participated in propelling the Nature Museum to a new pinnacle of excellence, while providing a fun, educational experience for children and adults of all ages," said Nature Museum president and CEO Joe Shacter. A total of $4.1 million has been contributed to the Nature Museum’s new and enhanced exhibits by the following: the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Mr. and Mrs. Verne G. Istock, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Mazza Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Federation, and Ms. Susan D. Whiting.
The Chicago Academy of Sciences and its Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum inspire people to learn about and care for nature and the environment. Founded in 1857, the Academy became Chicago’s first museum in 1865 and expanded in 1999 to build the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2004. The Institution fosters environmental learning through the exhibits and education programs of the Museum and through the Academy’s collections, research, symposia, publications, events and other activities. The Academy builds understanding of global environmental issues by interpreting the effect those issues have on the Midwest.
The Museum is open every day except New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Nature Museum is located at 2430 N. Cannon Drive (at Fullerton) in Chicago’s Lincoln Park. For more information, call (773) 755-5100 or visit the Museum’s Web site at naturemuseum.org. |
