T
he business model of the new Peoria Riv-
erfront Museum is unique to museums
across the United States, but delivering
different from the norm can only help strength-
en the overall experience, believes one of the top
museum officials in the country.
It will be something that should excite the
community while making it a better place to
live, said Ford Bell, president of the American
Association of Museums. He has followed the
museum progress since it began and said he be-
lieves it will be a model for other new museums
in the future.
“
Museums in general help to strengthen com-
munities and I think what they are building in
Peoria will do that very well. Its connection with
Caterpillar is a new model, something I haven’t
seen before, and together they will add an at-
traction to Peoria that will be good for an entire
region,” Bell said in a recent exclusive telephone
interview with The Peorian.
Museum Square, which encompasses both the
Peoria Riverfront Museum and the Caterpillar
Visitors Center, will open Oct. 20, culminating
more than a decade of work to make it happen.
Bell will be unable to make the opening
ceremonies but will be in Peoria to speak to
the museum’s board and other groups shortly
before the opening. That’s when he will see the
finished product, something he’s anxious to see.
“
It is increasingly the case that museums are
doing new and different things to help bring
the community in more. Sometimes they have
to think different to draw people. What they are
doing in Peoria with the Caterpillar center, the
IHSA Peak Performance Center, the new theater
and state-of-the art planetarium all are very
intriguing.
“
The Peak Performance Center, for example,
could be something special with fitness being
such an important part of society today,” Bell
said.
THE PRESENT
MUSEUM SQUARE NEARS
ITS GRAND OPENING,
SET FOR OCTOBER 20
PAUL GORDON
28
THEPEORIAN.COM
