Museum Of Science And Industry Plans To Open Original South Entrance For 1st Time In A Century 

JACKSON PARK — Cherry blossoms erupt every spring outside The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. Now, a renovation planned for next year will allow visitors to experience them from the museum’s original entrance for the first time in more than a century. 

The museum will break ground this winter on a $22 million project to restore the building’s south portico. Set to finish in the fall of 2027, the renovations will add a wheelchair accessible entrance and an indoor café with a terrace overlooking Jackson Park. 

“This project provides a once in a lifetime opportunity to reopen the original main entry of the museum and functionally reconnect the building to the Columbian Basin and the rest of Jackson Park,” Dr. Chevy Humphrey, the Museum of Science and Industry’s president and CEO, told Block Club. “That was how it was originally intended, and we’re bringing it back to its original intent. I’m humbled and I’m proud that we’re able to do this.”

The renovations will also help connect the museum at 5700 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive to the Obama Presidential Center campus, which opened to the public in Woodlawn last week.

The museum’s renovations were made possible by a $10 million grant from the Chicago-based Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the largest grant amount the Foundation has awarded since its creation in 1983

In a news release announcing the grant, Humphrey said the gift “allows us to enhance this iconic space while ensuring it is welcoming and accessible for all and continues a legacy of inspiration and engagement for decades of future visitors.”

Originally designed by Charles Atwood for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the museum is the only remaining structure from the exposition’s famed “White City,” a collection of marble, neo-classical buildings that inspired the design of The Art Institute of Chicago and other famed Chicago landmarks.

The museum’s new café will be available to host private events and will also be accessible to the public without a ticket to the museum. Humphrey said this is in line with one of the museum’s long-term goals: to create more opportunities for the public to experience the museum for free or at a reduced cost. 

“That may take us more than a decade to do, but that’s our big goal. So, as part of that, we want to create these spaces … and we have people enjoying the museum and our campus that will be accessible to them,” said Humphrey. 

Visitors to the museum this summer can experience “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing” running through Aug. 16, and “Anne Frank The Exhibition,” a full-scale recreation of the annex where Anne Frank and her family hid during WWII, through early 2027. More information about tickets and upcoming events can be found on the the museum’s website.

The Museum of Science and Industry is partnering on the redesign with New York-based architecture firm Robert A. M. Stern. It will remain open to the public throughout renovations. 

“We’re very excited about this project, because it is going to increase accessibility and add modern amenities while restoring the splendor of this important landmark,” Humphrey said.