In 2006, over 5,000 people participated in a poll to name the museum proposed for the old Sears block. Over 2,500 — over fifty percent — of those participants voted for “Peoria Riverfront Museum.” That would not be a big deal if there were only two names on the ballot, but there were five. In a five-way race, “Peoria Riverfront Museum” captured over half the total votes. It wasn’t a plurality; it was a majority.
There was no small amount of controversy over the naming of the museum. You may recall that the museum officials at first trotted out a series of ridiculous names (like “ExploraSphere” and “AMAZEum”), that were met with scorn by the public. None of their original batch of names had “Peoria” in the title because it supposedly “didn’t test well.” Yet, when public pressure was put on the museum folks to reconsider, the name that got the most votes was “Peoria Riverfront Museum.”
Now WCBU’s Jonathan Ahl reports that museum officials have decided that the public’s choice for a name is “too long,” so they will be shortening it to “Riverfront Museum.”
Too long? Based on what? It’s shorter than “Discovery Depot Children’s Museum” and even “Galesburg Railroad Museum.” What about the “WonderLab Museum of Health, Science & Technology” in Bloomington? Or the “Metropolitan Museum of Art” in New York? Or the “Museum of Science and Industry” in Chicago? Do they seriously expect us to believe that “Peoria Riverfront Museum” is too long?
And even if it were too long, why take “Peoria” out of the name? Why not shorten it to “Peoria Museum”? My guess is the real reason they want to strip “Peoria” out of the name to make it easier for them to pitch it as a “regional” musuem, and thus (they hope) get surrounding cities and corporations to donate.
The problem is not the name. The problem is the design and the cost. Rather than changing the plans to a more urban design — which would be easier and less expensive to build, and which Peorians wanted in the first place — they’re going to change the name. That name was the only thing on which the public got what it wanted. And now it’s gone, too.
Of course, they still want your tax money regardless.
Intrepid news director at WCBU 89.9 FM, Jonathan Ahl, has announced he will be leaving WCBU and the Peoria area to pursue another job opportunity. He hasn’t revealed where he’s going yet, but will keep us all updated on his blog.