List Gist

Children’s Museum officials finally found that misplaced list of other sites they considered for its new home before settling on Grant Park.

It was in a desk over at Jones Lang LaSalle, and it included some 36 alternate locales, all of which were rejected – according to a letter museum CEO Jennifer Farrington sent to the Chicago Plan Commission – because they didn’t meet the “core criteria” of a central downtown location, easy access to public transportation, access to green space, adjacent covered parking, and being in Grant Park.

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“Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) said he believes the list was recently ‘manufactured’ and argued museum executives repeatedly have stated they considered only Grant Park,” the Tribune reports.

“Reilly noted that Children’s Museum vice president Jim Law, Daley’s former special events director, has spent the last year insisting that Grant Park was the ‘only location considered,’” the Sun-Times reports.

Back in the Tribune, Farrington “declined to explain why the museum rejected the the 36 other sites, stating she couldn’t ’speak specifically to each site’ because she is not a ‘real estate development expert.’”

Also, her public relations consultants couldn’t come up with 36 good excuses.

“Farrington has stated before that sites such as Northerly Island and Pritzker Park on State Street, both of which are on the list, were passed over because they did not have easy access to public transportation and adjacent covered parking. Expanding at Navy Pier was ruled out after review because it ‘was not possible,’ she said.”

She didn’t mention that none of the other sites are illegal like the Grant Park site, presumably because she’s not a legal expert.

McPier Museum Mist

The Tribune editorial page wrapped up it series today exploring options besides Grant Park for the Children’s Museum to consider for a new facility, ending with . . . staying on Navy Pier.

“Why are donors, patrons and officials of the Chicago Children’s Museum walking away from Navy Pier – the Midwest’s top leisure destination, with 8.6 million visitors a year?” the Trib editorial board asks. “[Museum president Jennifer] Farrington told the Plan Commission that, six years ago, the museum began pursuing expansion at Navy Pier. Tribune editorial board interviews and records of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, a.k.a. McPier, suggest that nothing other than collisions of difficult personalities ultimately quashed that superb notion.

“The museum presented McPier’s board with a gorgeous architectural model for expansion – but also made a play for financing from McPier. Then a stubborn McPier official essentially refused to work with the museum’s representatives. One player sadly recalls the expansion plan drowning in ‘a perfect storm’ of acrimony.”

1. Let’s see those plans!

2. Why is it not surprising to learn that even back then the museum “made a play for financing from McPier” – you know, tax dollars – just like it would become eligible for city subsidies should it locate in Grant Park?

3. Name that McPier official! Let’s find out if he – or she – should be commended or chastised.

Elsewhere in its editorial, the editorial board says it calls the Chicago Plan Commission every day to get the list of sites the museum says it has considered – and which Farrington has promised to provide. Unsurprisingly, no list has been forthcoming.

Public Enemies

Among today’s developments on the Children’s Museum front:

* The Tribune editorial page today publishes a list of museum officials it holds responsible for the proposal to build in Grant Park, including the museum’s officers (Peter England and Jennifer Farrington), Board of Directors, Board of Advisors, and Past Chairman’s Council. Sixty-five names in all. Take a look and drop them a note!

* A full-page ad in the Sun-Times today lists members of the recently manufactured All Chicago Children’s Museum Committee. Eighty-four names in all. I’m sure the mayor is keeping a list.

I couldn’t find the list of names on the museum’s website to link to for you, but maybe their names will appear as sponsors of the museum’s new Astroturf exhibit.

* Division Street had the scoop! And today the Trib has “Grant Park Museum Foes Hit Liquor Request,” in which museum official Jim Law says that the language in their development application allowing for future restaurants and liquor sales on the site is “just standard.”

I’m sure he won’t mind taking it out then.