State museum attendance drops sharply in 2016

Posted on January 2, 2017
Illinois State Museum
Illinois State Museum was closed for nine months during the state budget stalemate. (Photo courtesy Facebook/Illinois State Museum)

By RFD Radio

SPRINGFIELD – The cause is up for debate but the numbers tell the story at the Illinois State Museum – attendance is down.

After being shuttered for nine months the museum reopened with an admission fee of $5 for most adults, but figures show that tens of thousands fewer people are showing up.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources says that since a July reopening more than 13,000 people have been in the building but that pales in comparison to the more than 61,000 during the same time in 2014.

Not everyone has to pay to get in. Anyone under 19, a military veteran, senior citizens and museum members don’t pay the admission fee.

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…