First Thing the Administration Should Do

[hvychev]

While I'm blowing up things, how about the Old Bank on Oak Park & Cermak.  Please don't waste time & money renovating that Dinosaur.

Wow Ozzie I could not disagree more! By making a comment like that I can tell you must not have lived here long. That bank is an importiant part of our communitys architectural history. It also represents how big and powerful Berwyns banking history was. Restored, that bank will look beautiful on one of the busiest corners in Berwyn. It is worth the time and money. 

[Ana]

Bank Building + Children's Museum + Berwyn's History = Success!!!  Has anyone been to the Scandinavian Museum in Andersonville in Chicago?  It is a great small historical museum with a floor dedicated just for children complete with a ship, log cabins, costumes and props (even a wooden cow that can be milked) to show the migration of their ancestors to the United States.  Wouldn't the bank building (with all of its history) be the perfect place for this museum!!   

[T-Stan RPCV]

I don't think the Cermak National Bank bld. has sufficient square feet of floor space or available parking to accomadate "today's" children museum, such as Naperville's or Navy Pier's.  If it's going to be done, it should be done right and be able to compete with these attractions.

Perhaps the old Service Merchandise could accomodate, but I think it should be more in the center of Berwyn.  Get people into the heart of town and they'll stay and spend money at local businesses.

[OakParkSpartan]

If/when superblock occurs, there will be (more) businesses near the bank.  There are currently several restaurants and an excellent ice cream shop within 1/2 block.  When the bank is put back to use, hopefully that will spur some economic re-development in the immediate area.  I for one could do without the cell phone store and that lovely furniture store on the corner.  While we are at it, let's find something to go into the tobacco shop on the SE corner.

Cheers,
Brian

[Ana]

The tabacco shop doesn't look half bad.  I like their awnings and it looks like they tried to keep the outside looking a bit charming and "old town" looking.  I haven't been in it so I can't comment on that but the outside looks decent.  The kids and I get a kick out of the furniture store, can you imagine that going into your living room or bedroom?     BTW, I have noticed that that intersection has been kept cleaner.  Someone is sweeping!

[OakParkSpartan]

Were I still single, I might contemplate getting that beautiful lighted palm tree in the window!   

The tobacco shop looks nice on the outside, but a different sort of business other than a convenience store type of place might be an asset.  Until Superblock is developed, and until more parking is made available very near by, the tobacco shop will stay.  If superblock spurs development/business in the area, I'd suspect that would be a prime candidate for a new tenant.

Anyone know if anything is going into the old petstore at the corner of Home and Cermak?  Bummer that it closed.

Cheers,
Brian

[pkd50]

Wow, I didn't know it closed.  The Bagel Shop in that strip is gone also.  I think that Super Block area is just plain awful, except for the new ice cream shop.

[Ana]

What new ice cream shop?  Where exactly is it?   

[hvychev]

Art, it is a half a block east of Oak Park Ave on Cermak on the south side of the street.

[marysol_21]

Here is some useful information about that children's museum in naperville that I belive T-Stan brought up. It opens up discussion for the pros and cons for the issue from a financial standpoint. Per the aritcle, the naperville museum is only second in destination to the Chicago Children's Museum. If the city tends to subsize businesses anyway, why not something that is community/education based an that has the potential to anchor a booming business dristrict?

Children's museum gets a boost
Developer donates $100,000 to Naperville site, but a budget deficit and long-term debt remain

By James Kimberly
Published May 5, 2005


Since moving four years ago to a converted lumberyard near downtown Naperville, the DuPage Children's Museum has become one of the most popular such facilities in the state, drawing 300,000 visitors annually to two floors of kid-friendly, hands-on, educational exhibits.

While the museum has won accolades for its programs, exhibits, even its architecture, it also has been awash in red ink, losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. It has balanced its budgets with loans from an account for repaying long-term debt.

But on Wednesday, the museum got some much-needed positive financial news: Erickson Retirement Communities, a Baltimore-based developer and manager of senior citizen housing with plans to build in Naperville, donated $100,000.

The one-time gift enables the museum to claim a matching grant from the City of Naperville and close the fiscal year with its lowest budget deficit--less than $98,000--in the four years since its move from Wheaton.

"Things are moving in the right direction," said museum Executive Director Susan Broad.

The museum's money problems have been indicative of what happened to non-profits nationwide after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, she said, when donations from corporations and foundations "stopped cold."

"In the '90s, the money was there. It was coming in, and we felt very comfortable in our ability to continue raising it," Broad said. "What we did not foresee, and what nobody foresaw, was Sept. 11 and the downturn in the economy and the effect it would have on our ability to raise money."

The museum began in 1988 as a series of exhibits that traveled the county in the back of station wagons, said Louise Beem, a former early childhood educator from Hinsdale who founded the museum with Dorothy Carpenter.

The museum opened a temporary location in Elmhurst and spent eight years in a Wheaton Park District building before moving to Naperville in May 2001. The museum borrowed $13.3 million in low-interest bonds to buy and renovate the former Moser Lumber headquarters on Washington Street, next to the Metra station, just north of downtown Naperville.

Almost immediately, museum attendance doubled and membership tripled to 10,000 families, making the DuPage Children's Museum the second most popular in Illinois. Only the Chicago Children's Museum attracts more visitors annually among the 15 children's museums in Illinois that belong to the Association of Children's Museums.

The boom in attendance brought increased gate receipts and gift shop sales, but it also required more spending. The DuPage Children Museum's annual operating budget doubled to around $3 million a year and the deficits started.

The worst was fiscal year 2003, when the museum finished with a budget shortfall of $662,000. Last fiscal year, the budget ended $251,000 short, according to museum records.

Broad said deficits were somewhat anticipated, because it would take time to build a base of supporters in a new town, but no one expected how large they would be.

The museum's money troubles were compounded when the state, citing budget problems, halted payment on $600,000 in grants awarded under the Illinois FIRST program.

To make ends meet, the museum was forced to draw from a fund of donations that was supposed to be dedicated to repaying the $13.3 million from the bonds. The fund dwindled from $6.4 million to $5 million.

"That had to stop," Broad said.

An in-house study performed in 2002 showed the DuPage Children's Museum fell woefully short in support from government sources and donations from foundations, corporations and individuals. The museum set out to change that by seeking financial aid from the Naperville City Council, the Naperville Park District and the DuPage County Board.

The City of Naperville last year pledged $150,000 a year for three years. It also pledged an additional $100,000 challenge grant each year if the museum could raise a similar amount elsewhere.

"I think they're a great part of the Naperville community and I'm glad to have them here," said Councilman John Rosanova.

But the museum did not fare as well before the DuPage County Board or the Naperville Park District. DuPage told the museum to submit an application for one of the county's grant programs, said County Board member James Healy of NapervilleIt's not that we turned them down," Healy said. "But they need to submit an application; we just don't have money laying around."

The Naperville Park District turned down the museum twice. Board President Pam Swafford said the museum failed to make a case that the Park District would get anything in return for the money that would benefit taxpayers, and that the museum is different from the programming the district already offers.

The museum must address its $13.3 million in long term-debt, Broad said.

Bank One essentially co-signed for the $13.3 million in bonds for the museum, and bank officials have been pushing for a sound repayment plan, Broad said.

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jkimberly@tribune.com

[T-Stan RPCV]

Just for the record it was Shelley that initially brought up the idea for a Children's Museum.  I've been trying to talk it up because I'm a big fan of her idea.

I have very little knowledge about finance, but that article is discouraging.  I was supprised when I read it considering we go to the Naperville children's museum and it always seems to be very busy.  I would think that near by businesses would have an interest in helping to support it financially because it attracts quite a few people to downtown Naperville.  Then again, Naperville already has a booming business market and does not need the help, we do.

[Shelley]

I was the one who brought up the Children's Museum and I agree that the article is discouraging, though I note that the deficits started when the museum doubled in size.  I do not have a business or financial background but I suspect that we would need to start out very small (4-5 exhibits with a few weekly workshops/group activities) and achieve some success and financial security before expanding.  For now, I have met with a Berwyn resident (and friend) with a museum background and 10 years experience.  We are both very cautiously enthusiastic about the possiblilities and have decided to go ahead and meet with some of the people who started other CM - like Wonder Works in Oak Park and the Children's Museum in Oak Lawn.  In Oak Lawn they started with a very small space that the park district let them use for free.   I understand that they are building a new facility to accomodate a growing membership.  This all happened within about 5 years.  After a period of information gathering, the next step would be to form a board, get non-profit status and start some major fundraising.  I'm interested in hearing feedback and especially from anyone with a fundraising, earlychildhood, non-profit, or grant writing background.  There must be some business model for a successful Childrens Museum that could guide us.  We discussed at length the need to form partnerships with other organizations like the park district, schools, businesses, library, and the Historical Society.  All of these ideas are premature until we do more research to decide if opening a Childrens Museum is a worthwhile effort for our community.    Any thoughts??

[markberwyn]

I'm not really getting into the idea of converting the bank into a children's museum, for a couple of reasons. First, it wouldn't fit into the main priority of the Superblock, which is to prompt redevelopment that puts more money into the city; even if Berwyn wasn't actively financing a museum in the way Naperville does with the one it has, I imagine it would still be a nonprofit entity. Second, part of the reason Naperville has such a place is because its becoming a city in it own right -- by which I mean it depends less an less on Chicago for entertainment, museums, dining, etc. Naperville needs to do more within its city limits because it's a long haul to Chicago however you do it, especially with kids. Berwyn's too close to Chicago to have that issue; you'd have to convince me that whatever museum goes in her would somehow be more attractive than any of a dozen museums in downtown Chicago.

[Bru67]

I agree that she should be used to generate tax revenue for the city and not as a museum, though I'm not averse to a Berwyn museum -- just not there.  In her heyday she brought home the bacon for us and under the plan for the Superblock, she was supposed to do it again.  It's taking us awhile to find someone to treat her right because she's obsolete now.  I'm sure we will find someone to love her though.  It gets harder to get a date after age 75, though it's not impossible.

[pkd50]

A museum is too big a project.  The last thing Berwyn needs is something tackey that people can make sport of.

[T-Stan RPCV]

I agree - the bank or anywhere on the "super block" would not be a good location.  Depot district would probably be the best fit.

[Shelley]

So far the Childrens Museum is still in the "tossing around the idea" stage.  I do not think the Bank Building is the right place.  Like I said, I think we should start very small.  A location in the Depot District would be the best because of train access and the possiblility of ample parking once the parking structure is built in about 2 years.  I also think it could be a big part of rejuvenating the area and Berwyn in general.  It would increase regular foot traffic, express that our community values education and learning, promote Berwyn as Family Friendly and benefit the children both educationally and socially.  It sure beats a Dollar Store, nail salon, doctor's office, or dare I say a Starbucks  in the area.  Though someone pointed out earlier that a Childrens Museum would make the area more attractive to a coffee shop, kid-friendly sandwich place, ice cream, etc..   

As far as competing with other area museums, I don't think we would be.  There are lots of different visitors that go to these museums including your once a year/tourist visitor, field trip visitor and regulars who get a yearly pass and schedule visits into their regular weekly routine.  This third group would be best served in our area.  I did not buy a yearly pass for Naperville because it is not convenient and even the museum in Oak Park is far enough north (North Avenue east of Ridgeland) that it seems like more of an outing than if there was a place for me to take the kids 5 minutes away.  Plus, Oak Park is small enough that we could certainly compliment eachother by varying exhibits and offering a unique experience through a partnership with, say, the Berwyn Historical Society.  The day-trip/tourist/ once a year visitor will still choose Navy Pier or DuPage - that's ok.  We certainly have enough kids in the Berwyn/Cicero/Riverside/Stickney/Lyons who would benefit from a museum like this in our own area to make it worth exploring further IMHO (boy that is catching on).  I've mentioned a program at the Berwyn Rec that sells about 60-70 yearly passes for about the same as a yearly museum pass would be.  The program offers only 2 hours of "open gym" time with appropriate equipment for 0-4 year olds 3 days a week.  There is little or no advertising and just by word of mouth the program attracts Berwyn mothers as well as families from Cicero, Riverside and other surrounding 'burbs.  I was told they get about 10-15 pay-as-you-go families on a weekly basis in addition to the yearly pass people.   

Lastly, PKD - have you been to a Childrens Museum?  I wouldn't describe any of the ones I've visited as tacky.  If someone is going to make sport of hands -on learning for kids, well then they don't know very much about the importance of early childhood education.  If the partnership with the schools was strong, our kids would be more "ready" for school and would be able to supplement and expand on classroom learning for a much richer overall education.  It doesn't have to be too big - see my earlier post about Oak Lawn.   A small  building or storefront to begin with would be less risky and give us a chance.  Ideally some underused space that might be offered for very low rent would help in terms of putting our financial efforts into exhibits and programming in order to attract area families to purchase memberships.  Does anyone know what the plans are for the old Sokol building on 27th?  Maybe the park district would let us use a part of it for the first year in exchange for use of the facility for park district programming?  Wonder Works in Oak Park is closed to the public on Mondays and Tuesdays to be available for field trips and other organized visits.  Maybe once our museum was established and successful we could move to a permanent location nearer the train station and be able to pay rent.   

Obviously I have lots to say on the subject, but am trying to be realistic.  Thanks for all the feedback.  Keep it coming and I"ll let you all know what I find out in the next few weeks.   

Shelley

[pkd50]

Yes, I have had my kids to Navy Pier and Naperville.  I didn't mean they were tackey at all.  I just meant that if it was done it would have to be done properly.  It sounds as if you would be the person to do it right, because you seem to be going slow and putting thought into it.  Good luck.  I hope you can pull it off.

[Ana]

Didn't Wonder Works start small on Lake St.?  I seem to remember that.  Anyway, I took my children there last summer, they had a wonderful time.  Yes, it is hands on and they have to use their imagination to have a good time.  I liked the fact that it was all on one level and I was able to watch the older children while working on an activity with the younger one.  A friend who lives in Westchester had her daughter's birthday party there last month.  Everyone had a wonderful time.  She booked it after closing time on Saturday for two hours.  I just booked it for a day in July.  It is not a cheap birthday but I like the set up and the fact that I can bring more than 7-15 people and have the entire place to ourselves (and the fact that there isn't a mouse dancing around with disco lights selling me pizza and tokens for cheap prizes).  I think the Children's Museum is a great idea.  

[pkd50]

I give up on the pizza, but you have to give either the disco ball or the mouse in return.