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Article: MUSEUM RELIC? HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S $17.09 QUESTION.
- Article from:
- Crain's Chicago Business
- Article date:
- January 18, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Has Chicago lost its sense of history? Or has the Chicago Historical Society lost touch with its market?
Why, in a city with unprecedented civic pride and an insatiable appetite for reveling in its contributions to politics, architecture and business, does the 143-year-old institution draw fewer than 145,000 visitors per year -- roughly the same number the Art Institute of Chicago and Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) attract in a single month?
There are more unsettling questions: Why is Historical Society attendance off more than 20% from the late 1980s? And why, on a per-visitor basis, are Chicago property taxes subsidizing the Historical Society ...