Private funding included donations and the
public funding will include $36 million from a
Peoria County sales tax increase that approved in
2010.
The museum also received federal and state
grants.
Eight entities worked together on the project,
including Lakeview Museum, Caterpillar, the
Peoria Historical Society, the Illinois High School
Association, the African American Hall of Fame
Museum, the Nature Conservancy and Heartland
Foundation.
“
There were no ‘easy’ buttons with this project.
That kind of collaboration just doesn’t happen
very often. I challenge anyone to show me this
level of cooperation on any project anywhere. It’s
not there. But we had it and that’s why we will be
celebrating on Oct. 20,” Richerson said.
Besides the Peak Performance Center, planetar-
ium and giant-screen digital theatre, the museum
will have six galleries. They include one called
The Street that shows local history, another that
tells of the importance of the Illinois River to Peo-
ria’s development, and another called Discovery
World geared toward children of all ages.
Also, artwork from some of the area’s top
artists and members of Central Illinois Artists
Association (CIAO) will be displayed in the
museum and outside will be a sculpture by
renowned local artist Preston Jackson.
Event planning is underway and Richerson
said the museum has scheduled the Ansel Ad-
ams Western Exposure display, which will open
April 13, 2013. The collection, from art owned
by Ansel Adams’ son, will not be seen anywhere
else before it is displayed in Peoria, he said.
“
It will be the international premiere of some
very important pieces. We are excited about it,”
Richerson said.
The museum is selling memberships of differ-
ent levels as well as tiles that people can draw
on as a way to raise operating capital. A basic
annual membership is $75 individual plus a
guest and $95 for a family.
The new museum is connected to the Cat-
erpillar Visitors Center only through a shared
underground garage, which will include 15
spaces where electric vehicles can be plugged in
and recharged.
THE PRESENT
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