The June 16 Tribune says attendance at the Museum of Science and Industry has dropped 38 percent since $5 admission for adults was started a year ago, from 3 million to 1.9 million. Those wanting to see an Omnimax movie also pay $8.50, while groups of 20 or more children get a special rate, instead of the $2 per child, ages 5 to 12.
Quoted officials who were enthusiastic about recent sold-out houses to view an 89-minute Rolling Stones film and hope for future ”blockbuster exhibits” apparently have overlooked the fact that museums using tax-free land are supposed to be educational, and not money-making enterprises.
Besides occupying 15 acres of Jackson Park land with a huge parking lot, which they are proposing to double by an underground construction adding further to traffic confusion, the operators are warning local residents not to park there during museum hours. Future plans include taking more park land. Maybe economic facts will accomplish what public administration failed to do.
