Category Archives: Museum Block

Museum Block

More not-so-shocking news from the museum group

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The finagling museum CEO Jim Richerson is trying to get more of your money, Peoria County. You thought the museum would be satisfied after you foolishly agreed to raise your own sales tax rate during a recession to give them $40 million. Now you’ll see why giving money to the museum is like feeding a stray cat — they keep coming back for more.

The Journal Star chronicles some of the ingenious ideas Richerson the Schemer has cooked up to get his fingers in your pockets:

  • Have the county reimburse the museum for some “outstanding capital costs” so they can free up some private money to purchase some Ansel Adams photographs for their collection — or have the county just buy the photographs outright and give them to the museum! I’d like to know why there are “outstanding capital costs.” Didn’t Dave Ransburg raise all the private funds needed to build the museum, plus enough to fund the endowment for operational expenses? Wasn’t that a requirement for the county to give their $40 million? From where is this shortfall coming? But the best line in this part of the story is Richerson’s quote: “I was not asking for public dollars for this purchase.” We can put that down in the annals of untrue statements, along with “Our theater will be an IMAX,” and “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”
  • Have the county sponsor a “free day” at the museum for county school children by donating public dollars to cover the cost of their attendance. Wait, you mean all the kids in the county aren’t already attending? I thought this was going to be an educational mecca for area school kids. That’s what all the museum literature touted during the run-up to the sales tax referendum, remember?
  • “[C]lose off a portion of the grounds — the ground-level sculpture garden and part of the deck-level viewing platform — for a fundraiser open to museum members and their guests prior to and during the annual fireworks display over the Illinois River.” Yes, they want to block off public land for private use … just like they do on Water Street for Kellehers and like they used to do at Riverfront Village when Old Chicago/Retro American Tap were still there. But this is County, not City, property, and the County doesn’t think it’s as hot of an idea as the City does.

The good news is that he was rebuffed by Steve Morris on all these ideas. The bad news is that you know he’ll keep trying, and eventually will likely succeed. Some public body will end up bailing him out. Just wait until the museum threatens to go under. The City will jump at the chance to infuse more public cash into this private business, just like they’re doing now for the Peoria Chiefs.

And if all else fails, they can go directly to the people. Promise them an IMAX and they’ll follow you anywhere.

Museum Block

Translation: Attendance is low and we’re losing money.

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In a stunning revelation no one could ever have seen coming, the Journal Star reports that the Peoria Riverfront Museum is not holding up their end of the bargain with Peoria County taxpayers.

For months, county officials have asked for — but not received — audited financial statements from last year, federal tax forms and a copy of the museum’s operating and capital budget. […]

The museum’s fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 — nearly 10 months ago — and Scott Sorrel, one of the county’s top administrators, said the county has been seeking financial records since shortly after the new fiscal year began.

Jim Richerson, the museum’s president, said Tuesday in an email response to questions that last year’s audit hadn’t been completed.

And by “hasn’t been completed,” he no doubt means, “we haven’t figured out how to spin this yet.” It’s pretty obvious to anyone who has driven by or even visited the museum that this place is not reaching its attendance goals, and that means it’s not meeting its revenue goals either. So why not just own up to the truth?

Well, first of all, the museum folks don’t like being told what to do, and part of their contract with Peoria County is that the County can dictate a scaling-back of operations if the museum is not profitable. That would be embarrassing for the museum folks.

Secondly, when was the last time the museum folks told the truth? Not about the IMAX they promised. Remember when they said they had a contract with IMAX on their desk just waiting to be signed once the referendum passed? Remember when they said they were going to get 1,000 visitors a day to the museum block–240,000 per year to the museum alone? Then they tried to revise history a few months ago, saying that the goal was really only 180,000 per year? The spin factory has been in full production for a while down at Museum Square.

In fact, looking at the Wikihow article on “How to Lie,” I would suspect that the museum folks have made it to step 14 (“never lie to government officials”). And if you can’t lie, what option is left?

Stonewalling.

City of Peoria, Museum Block

Peoria Riverfront Museum: A Review

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The new Peoria Riverfront Museum opened last month, and a generous friend of mine gave me four free passes to encourage me to see it for myself. I took my kids on Saturday, Nov. 10, around 12:15 and we stayed until the museum closed at 5. It was fairly well-attended; I saw perhaps one to two hundred people while we were there.

The Exterior

We parked at Riverfront Village and walked across Water Street to the museum block. There is no entrance from Water Street, so visitors approaching from this side either have to circle the block or do what we did: climb the bare concrete stairs and cross the open space between the museum and the Caterpillar visitor center.

The pedestrian experience on Water Street is truly regrettable. The building is set back from the street over 100 feet. Between the street and the building is a berm, the aforementioned stairs, and the bare concrete air vents for the underground parking garage. Behind that — a half block away — the museum monolith rises above the landscape with its cold, gray, metallic siding.

Once you climb the stairs, there is a welcome surprise: the open space between the museum and Caterpillar visitor center is paved with bricks instead of concrete. Brick pavement provides a permeable membrane; that is, rainwater can pass between the bricks to the ground beneath, reducing runoff into the storm sewers. From the museum’s promotional material, it appears that water runoff is channeled to small gardens/plantings around the site.

The Entrance and the Theater

We entered the museum through the front doors that face Washington Street, through a large lobby, and up to the front desk. There were a lot of workers throughout the museum, and they were all very pleasant and helpful. We handed over our free passes and were each given a wristband that gave us access to all the exhibits and the planetarium, but not the “giant screen” theater. Had we paid for admission, it would have cost us $32.30 ($9.35 for adults, $7.65 for children) because we’re Peoria County residents and would enjoy a 15 percent discount. Normal price is $11 for adults and $9 for children.

I learned that the 15 percent discount for Peoria County residents does not apply to the “giant screen” theater. Everyone must pay full-price, which is $10 for adults and $8 for children. That came to $34 for me and my three children to see a 45-minute movie (“Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure” in 3D), plus the cost of popcorn and drinks. The museum workers really touted the size of the screen before starting the movie, specifically comparing it to the comparatively smaller IMAX theater at Rave Motion Pictures by the Shoppes at Grand Prairie. The museum group originally promised the public an IMAX theater that would show first-run Hollywood films, but then switched to a little-known brand (Global Immersion) showing primarily educational films once taxpayers had approved a referendum to help build the museum.

The screen was indeed very large (70 feet wide by 52 feet high), and the picture quality from the 4K (4096 x 2160 pixels) digital projector was superb. The audio system was designed by Legacy Audio, a manufacturer of high-end audio equipment. In fact, the president and founder of Legacy Audio, Bill Dudleston, actually designed this system specifically for integration with Global Immersion’s theater installations. I’ve heard Legacy speakers before because my uncle is an audiophile and used to sell their speakers. They have a very good reputation, and the sound in the theater was fantastic.

However, without the IMAX brand, and without first-run movies (or any Hollywood films, at present), this state-of-the-art theater is not going to draw many people. It’s a pretty hard sell to bring the family out for a 45-minute educational film at first-run theater prices. Fewer paid admissions means the museum will be hard-pressed to break even, given their pro forma operating budget.

The Exhibits

The museum is billed as “interdisciplinary,” and its mission is “to inspire lifelong learning for all — connecting art, history, science and achievement through collections, exhibitions and programs.” To that end, the museum includes the following exhibits: IHSA Peak Performance (achievement), “The Illinois River Encounter” (science), “The Street” and African American Wall of Fame (history), and International Feature Gallery (art). The planetarium and the aforementioned large-screen theater also add to the science portion (predominantly) of the museum.

We actually went to the theater later in the day. The first thing we did after getting our wristbands was to visit the Illinois High School Association’s Peak Performance gallery. It included a number of interactive displays that my kids thoroughly enjoyed. In fact, they could have spent the whole day in this one area and been content. We visited it about three times altogether. Their favorite displays were the ones where you see how high you can jump, how fast your reaction time is, how well you can balance, and how fast you can throw a baseball.

In the Illinois River Encounter, most of our time was spent in a room with a model of a river channel where you can manipulate sand and water to see how silt and sediment affects the flow of water down the river. The kids really enjoyed this interactive feature. My son also liked the display on the sinking of the Columbia, a steamboat that sank near Creve Coeur in 1918. There were several parts of the displays that were unfinished. For instance, there’s a small aquarium where fish from the Illinois river will be displayed, but it was not up and running yet.

Next, we went to “The Street” and, since I’m interested in Peoria history, I spent the most time here. The kids breezed through the exhibits pretty quickly, but spent most of their time in a side room with interactive displays that appeared to be designed to keep the kids occupied while adults looked at the exhibits. They looked at small objects through a high-powered microscope, put together model cars and raced them down a track, and fit magnetic gears together on a large board and spun them.

“The Street” was smaller than I expected and offered a pretty truncated view of Peoria’s history. As you enter and go to the left, there are four panels that cover Native American history of Peoria, French exploration of the area, the rise of the City, and then modern-day Peoria. About as brief of an overview as you can imagine. Again, there were several displays that were incomplete or not yet open. On the right as you enter there is a large display of Peoria’s distilling history and a display on the mass-production of penicillin at the ag lab. In the middle of the floor was an old Caterpillar engine and some historic bicycles.

Strangely, the really big Peoria history artifacts weren’t even in this area: the Duryea automobile that used to be housed at the Peoria Public Library was tucked away downstairs away from all the other exhibits and Jerry’s famous motorcycle boots we’re no where to be seen, and the old courthouse clock was perched above the stairway by the giant screen theater.

Tucked in another side room was an interactive computer display where you can look up information on famous Peorians like Richard Pryor and Betty Friedan. It wasn’t the easiest display to navigate and didn’t offer video or audio–just static images and a lot of text to read. The African American Hall of Fame is located here, too. Not exactly prominently displayed.

I also question some of the history. One display indicated that the “village” of Peoria was incorporated in 1831, then incorporated as a city in 1845. While the latter date is correct, I cannot find any history book that talks about Peoria being incorporated as a “village” and certainly not in 1831. The Town of Peoria was incorporated in 1835; perhaps that’s what they meant. In any case, it made me suspect of some of the other information that was presented.

We next went to the movie, then to the art gallery, which didn’t seem to have any particular theme. I had to laugh at one of the pieces of art — a watercolor painting of the museum. Seriously? There was another entire room that was unfinished; it still had ladders and bare drywall. If I had had to pay full admission, I would have been upset that so much of the museum was not yet complete.

Our final stop of the day was at the planetarium. I had wanted to see Stars of Peoria, but the time it was available was the same time as the giant-screen movie. So we instead saw the “Laser Vinyl” laser light show. The kids thought it was pretty cool overall, although my son fell asleep. They had never seen a laser show before. My oldest daughter even recognized some of the songs.

We checked out the museum store on our way out. Even though the museum was closing to the general public, it was just opening for a special showing to the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, complete with hors d’oeuvres in the lobby.

Final Thoughts

For a building that is so oddly shaped and sited, the inside was surprisingly squared off. The exhibit spaces were in rectangular rooms. It made me wonder why the exterior needed to be so sprawling and inefficiently sited. The displays could easily have been placed in a building that sat on a corner of the old Sears block and rose four or five stories. That would have been cheaper to build and would have opened the rest of the block to other, mixed uses — residential, retail, restaurants. Instead, the block is completely dedicated to the museum and the Cat visitor center, both of which close around 5 p.m., leaving the block empty and the street inactive.

For a building that looks so large from the outside, it felt surprisingly small on the inside. I was especially disappointed with the small amount of space dedicated to Peoria’s history. When talk of a downtown museum first started, it was originally envisioned to be a Peoria history museum. Over the years, it morphed into an “everything” museum, largely at the instigation of former congressman Ray LaHood. Unfortunately, the museum is now the proverbial “jack of all trades, master of none.” It’s like the diner that has every dish you can imagine on the menu, but doesn’t fix any of them particularly well.

Museum Block

Museum attendance projections revised downward

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PEORIA — Peoria Riverfront Museum attendance projections apparently have been lowered 25 percent, based on figures from a museum official quoted by a local newspaper.

Toni Tripp, vice president of marketing and communications at the Peoria Riverfront Museum, told the Peoria Journal Star that “about 180,000 people are expected to visit the museum over the course of the year; which assumes about 500 people walk through daily.” That marks a significant decrease in the number of patrons that museum officials have heretofore predicted.

When the museum’s operating budget was being put together in 2007, Lakeview Museum, consultant White Oak Associates, and Caterpillar, Inc., predicted the museum would see 240,000 visitors per year, or 667 visitors per day. A detailed report showing these figures is still available on Peoria County’s website. The latest projections cut those original numbers by a fourth.

The decrease in attendance means lower revenues for the museum, which means a much larger endowment would be needed to sustain the operating budget. The 2007 budget projections said that a $6.75 million endowment was needed if the museum met its projections at 100%. At 90% of projections, a $13.5 million endowment would be needed. No scenario was given for the museum potentially meeting only 75% of projections, but the endowment needed under that scenario would clearly be more than the museum’s current $10 million target.

A big part of the discussion leading up to the successful passage of a .25% sales tax increase to help build the museum centered on whether the operating budget of the museum would be sustainable. At that time, museum officials touted the large, regional draw of an IMAX theater showing first-run movies at night and museum gallery attendance that was on par with other museums nationwide used as benchmarks. Since that time, the museum abandoned the IMAX brand to go with little-known giant-screen cinema company Global Immersion, decided that showing first-run movies did not fit with their mission, and now have lowered their overall attendance projections.

A request for comment from Toni Tripp went unanswered.

City of Peoria, Museum Block

Peoria Riverfront Museum not destined for National Historic Register

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The Peoria Riverfront Museum is nearing completion, and we’re starting to get a pretty good picture of what the finished product will look like. In particular, we’re getting a look at the exterior building materials: grey metal building panels. They don’t look quite as sleek in real life as they did on the artist’s renderings that were shared with the public five years ago:

Peoria Riverfront Museum as of May 2012
Photo courtesy of Steven E. Streight.

But read how the building designer describes these exterior panels:

When finished, building designer Bob Frasca envisions the panels “will reflect a shimmer of light across the building’s surface much like light dances across the Illinois River. The site’s exterior design was intended to reach out to embrace the river, harmonizing with the reflective surface of the water; changing by the hour and season. Such connections to our Illinois River are fundamental. The river was the impetus for Peoria’s development and it continues to nurture our community today.”

Here’s the thing: the museum is not on the river, except during a flood. The rest of the time, the Italianate-style Rock Island Depot (aka “River Station”) and the postmodern Riverfront Village stand between the “reflective surface” of the river and the modern-style museum. As a result, it doesn’t really “harmonize” with anything. It’s a building really designed to sit a block east (for better or worse), making it look sharply out of context in its current setting. Where there should be urban density and a mix of uses and styles, there is instead a large, asymmetrical gray box, devoid of ornamentation and aesthetics.

I appreciate the desire of museum promoters to try to drum up excitement for this new building. But one cannot mask with flowery words the banality of the architecture. You’ll recall that this really isn’t what the architects or museum officials had in mind originally. They had to “value engineer” that design into what we’re seeing today because they couldn’t afford the cost of the original plan. Even museum proponents had a hard time covering their disappointment, distracting attention from the outside by insisting we “focus on what we’re gaining” on the inside.

Regrettably, the only surrounding context the museum block does correspond with is the concrete terrace and lower-level parking of Riverfront Village — the most unattractive context designers could have chosen to imitate. There is no inspiring terminal vista for those approaching on Fulton; indeed, no thought at all appears to have been given to the view from this street. For those unlucky enough to approach the building from the south, there is nothing but a large, blank, gray, metal wall leaning over them. On Water Street, passers-by will be greeted with stairs and a parking deck (à la Riverfront Village).

These deficiencies can be largely attributed to the auto-centric focus of the design. The building is designed for motor vehicles either to drop off museum-goers at the front entrance on Washington Street or park in the underground deck and enter the museum from the parking garage via elevator. Hence, not a lot of thought was put into the pedestrian experience around the perimeter of the building. No one is seriously expecting pedestrians to congregate here, so little effort was made to create a place where people would enjoy meeting and hanging out. This is what we call a “self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Hopefully the inside of the museum will be more attractive.

City Council, City of Peoria, Museum Block, Streets, Warehouse District

Peoria City Council Special Meeting 7-19-2011 (Live Blog)

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UPDATE: Here’s the audio from the meeting, as promised:

[audio:https://peoriachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/Audio/Policy-Session-07192011.mp3]

There’s a special meeting (policy session) of the Peoria City Council tonight, and I’ll be live-blogging it. I’ll also put a recording of the meeting up once the meeting is over. All the council members are here except second-district council member Barbara Van Auken. The purpose of the meeting is to talk about the Washington Street corridor — specifically, what section of the street to work on improving first. After a short introduction by Patrick Urich (City Manager), the floor is opened to anyone who wants to address the council.

Continue reading Peoria City Council Special Meeting 7-19-2011 (Live Blog) →

Blogosphere, Museum Block

Rumors circulating on Peoria Dot Com about museum tax

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I can find no verification of this rumor that was recently brought to my attention:

Just talked to a relative that is on a local developement [sic] company that helped push for the museum. He told me that there will be something coming through the pipeline that will change the wording on the tax bill they passed to pay for this museum. He said it will include a scheduled increase in the tax rate for the museum in years 1-8 of operations. They are now projecting a loss when they open up. Really. He also said that the wording will be changed allowing the tax rate to go up in the future without a vote. The problem with this is that it will only have to be approved through the city counsil [sic] and not by vote. So the vote probably will happen without hearing a word about it.

Whether or not this specific allegation is true, there’s no doubt that the museum will be sucking more money from the taxpayers one way or another. You can count on it. As Thomas Andrews said to White Star Line managing director Ismay about whether the Titanic would sink, “It is a mathematical certainty.”

Museum Block

It’s official: No IMAX for museum

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Here’s the press release:

After several months of research and exploration, the Peoria Riverfront Museum Board voted Thursday to partner with international immersive theater specialist Global Immersion to provide the technical solution for the museum’s Giant Screen Digital Theater (GSDT).

The Board’s GSDT committee met with key industry players, including system integrators, technology/hardware providers and film producers, and benchmarked with other mission-driven museums across the country regarding emerging technology, programming options and general tips on attendance. After deciding on a system integrator, the board selected award-winning Global Immersion as the company that best meets the museum’s criteria. The company, comprised of a team of veteran industry professionals, is dedicated to the design, development and integration of unique immersive theater experiences and was recently named 2011 International Business of the Year in England.

“Our decision was guided by defined criteria and we’re confident that Global Immersion is the right partner,” says Ryan Beasley, PRM Board Vice-Chair. “It’s all about creating an environment that will deliver an incredible immersive theater experience. We’ll have the most innovative technology available, access to a broad film library and the flexibility to control the content we deliver.”

The team at Global Immersion has been building innovative and technically advanced environments in venues around the world for more than 14 years. Headquartered in the UK with additional offices in the United States, Global Immersion provides display system engineering, media management, show production, lighting, seating, audio and more—combining these individual components to create state-of-the-art, high-performance attractions. Global Immersion’s portfolio of international clients includes Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego, Walt Disney Imagineering, Tainan Science & Education Museum in Taiwan, National Space Center in the United Kingdom, and the Moscow Planetarium in Russia, among many other educational institutions, entertainment venues and visitor experiences around the world.

The technical solution includes a 70’ x 52’ screen, digital 3D theater with 4K digital projection that will provide superior picture quality and a true “immersive” experience—a giant screen and stadium seating that creates the illusion of being inside the action. “The result will be a bigger, bolder, and better theater experience than any other across central Illinois,” says Beasley.

Because the museum is not tied to one content provider, its giant screen theater has access to a wide variety of existing and future films from producers and distributors like National Geographic, K2 Communications, nWave, MacGillivray Freeman and more. The arrangement also allows the museum to use the theater in creative ways that expand offerings— like airing live simulcasts of sports, arts, music and science events; hosting functions that incorporate live data or award videos; and planning video gaming or YouTube festivals.

“Selecting Global Immersion as our partner in this endeavor is the result of a comprehensive evaluation strategy,” says Beasley. “Our goal was to find the right GSDT partner who shared and is aligned with PRM’s mission.”

Construction on the Peoria Riverfront Museum began in March, and work will begin on its theater later this summer. In the meantime, the PRM board will work with Global Immersion to review the theater architecture, system design, performance specifications, budget and schedule. Preliminary film programming planning will begin later this year.

The Peoria Riverfront Museum is a collaborative effort of Lakeview Museum of Arts & Sciences, Peoria Historical Society, Illinois High School Association (IHSA), African American Hall of Fame Museum, Peoria Regional Museum Society, The Nature Conservancy, Heartland Foundation and Caterpillar Inc. Features include a giant screen digital theater; state-of-the-art planetarium; Illinois River exhibit; Peoria history gallery; children’s Discovery Worlds; galleries for fine arts, folk art and international features; and the IHSA Peak Performance Center.

Museum Block

Giant screen theater decision to be announced in spring

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According to the Peoria Riverfront Museum’s February 2011 report, a final decision will be made by spring on whether to contract with IMAX as they promised the voters in no uncertain terms, or renege on their promise and go with another brand:

The PRM Board of Directors continues its due diligence as it works to select the appropriate technology for the museum’s giant screen digital theater. In January 2011, a number of board members and staff attended the Moody Gardens Digital Cinema Symposium in Galveston, Texas, in order to evaluate potential vendors. They viewed side?by?side comparisons of digital and analog films, attended presentations and engaged in conversations with a variety of companies that manufacture equipment, produce content, develop projector and 3?D technology, and integrate systems to ensure that our decision is optimal for the audience and business plan.

We are still evaluating a wide variety of equipment suppliers and system integrators, and we have many outstanding candidates. Our decision will be based on quality, flexibility, upfront and operating expenses and revenue opportunities. We expect to announce our plans for the theater this spring.

The monthly report also states that “Many people have started to pay on their pledges,” but gives no specifics. According to the county’s Finance Committee information from February 24, the museum has only received approximately 30% of its promised pledges to date. The County had originally promised that construction wouldn’t start until all the pledges had been received.

Some board changes were also announced: “Sally Owens has joined the PRM Board of Directors, replacing Jane Converse. Jane and her organization will continue to provide marketing support to the PRM. Cal MacKay will become the board secretary/treasurer, replacing Andy Herrera. Herrera resigned due to time constraints and other business commitments.”

Museum Block, Peoria County

Moving grant funds will require new application

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The Journal Star reported on February 25 that, due to lower construction bids on the Peoria Riverfront Museum, taxpayers will save “the additional $4 million that otherwise would have gone to interest payments on bonds, county officials said. In addition, the county is now able to slide $3 million in grant funding from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity [DCEO] to the museum group to help build exhibits inside the museum, County Administrator Patrick Urich said.”

The county’s application for the DCEO grant specifically stated that it was to be used for the parking garage portion of the project. If the county wishes to “slide $3 million in grant funding” to build exhibits inside the museum, they are going to have to reapply for the grant with a new scope of work. According to County Administrator Patrick Urich, the county sent in their new application last week. Nevertheless, the county’s Finance Committee approved a resolution moving $3 million of the DCEO funds to the “non-building” portion of the project. The county has not received any funds from the DCEO grant as yet.

Certain “durable movable equipment” is considered a “bondable expenditure” under the grant guidelines. According to Mr. Urich, “exhibit construction” would fall under this category. The grant application specifically lists the following as examples of expenditures that could be approved: “Art-in-architectural art, heavy duty fire protection apparatus, office and household equipment and furniture, machinery and implements, scientific instruments and apparatus with the exception of those with short useful life.” Specific examples of expenditures that would not be approved are: “commodities; library books, maps and paintings other than those purchased with the Art-in-Architecture Program; livestock; rolling-stock including cars, trucks, boats and related items; spare and replacement parts; items such as glassware, crockery, etc.; computers, related equipment and software.”