Project Background
In 1991 the City of Champaign acquired an historic vaudeville theater--the Orpheum--from the Kerasotes theater chain with the intention of razing it and putting up a multi-level parking structure. The theater had closed in 1986 as a movie house; in spite of sitting unheated with a leaking roof for five years, damage to the theater was primarily cosmetic.
Preservation Campaign
The Preservation and Conservation Association (PACA) launched a campaign to convince the City that the theater is too valuable to be destroyed and brought in Mr. Michael Hardy, a theater consultant, to talk with local businesspeople and City officials and offer his opinion on a viable use for the structure. The City would not accept any proposal to reopen the theater as either a movie house or performing arts center since we have many other such facilities already and the need does not exist.
Proposal for a Children's Science Museum
After spending several days in the community, Mr. Hardy recommended that the theater be converted into a children's museum. He stated in his report
There is little or no competition for a dynamic, interactive children's program in the region....This indicates a strong, untapped market for such a program, one which could draw heavily from the central Illinois region, as well as Champaign-Urbana....Parents must frequently leave the area to expose their children to this kind of activity, and the school systems are in considerable need of such programs to enhance their curricula in the sciences and the arts. Such a museum is one of the only kinds of cultural offerings that is unlikely to ever be duplicated at the University, since its natural constituency consists of college age students and faculty-staff.
Community Action - A Plan Takes Shape
There were already two community groups in our area who had begun discussions about developing a children's museum--Junior League and the East Central Illinois Partnership for Excellence in Education (ECIPEE), but they did not have a facility and lacked the funding to take the project forward. Following Mr. Hardy's visit PACA joined forces with Junior League and ECIPEE, wrote a business plan for such a museum, presented it to the Champaign City Council, and convinced them to consider the children's science museum as an alternative to demolishing the theater. A new 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation--The Discovery Place--was formed in February 1992; its Board of Directors was made up of representatives from all three original groups as well as parents, educators, and businesspeople from the community.
Fundraising and Phase I Renovation
During 1992-93 the new museum corporation went through the usual nonprofit organizational trials: building community support, educating board members, setting up committees, and fundraising. In summer 1994 The Discovery Place secured $150,000 in financing from Busey Bank and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to acquire the Orpheum from the City of Champaign and do Phase I renovation--converting the storefronts adjacent to the theater to demonstration museum space and renovating the upstairs boarding house for offices.
Opening of the Museum
The Discovery Place museum opened on December 27, 1994; children and families from 27 states and several foreign countries have visited our demonstration museum since that time.
In April 1997 the Board of Directors chose a new name for the museum: the Orpheum Children's Science Museum.
Phase II and Beyond
Phase II of our project--renovation of the vestibule, lobby, and mezzanine--was completed in October 2000. Funding for Waterworks exhibits was provided by the US Geological Survey. Illinois First funding allowed for the renovation work.
The Orpheum Board of Directors recently voted in a new motto for the museum. The Orpheum Children's Science Museum: Where Science Takes Center Stage!