Illinois Governor Confirms $6 Million Capital Grant for Broadcast Museum

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 22, 2010

Shrine to Television and Radio History will open in Chicago Project will attract 250,000 Annual Visitors and Create 200 jobs

Media Contact:
Marc Glick, MBC, mglick@museum.tv, 312-822-0512

CHICAGO – Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has confirmed a $6 million capital grant to assist with the completion of a museum dedicated to the nation's television and radio history. The new Museum of Broadcast Communications in downtown Chicago is expected to attract more than 250,000 annual visitors from across the country when it is completed in late 2011.

"The tourism industry employs more than 300,000 people and contributes approximately $30 billion to the Illinois economy each year," said Governor Quinn. "Our investments in key cultural attractions like the state-of-the-art Museum of Broadcast Communications help ensure this industry can continue to create jobs and serve as a dynamic growth engine for our state."

The new 62,000-square-foot facility will be located in the heart of Chicago, at State and Kinzie Streets. The museum will be a model of energy-efficiency, built to a Gold LEED environmental standard. It will provide five times as much space as its former location in the Chicago Cultural Center. The MBC, which opened in 1987, will attract a wide range of audiences, allowing for an aggressive student tour program, expanded collections, increased exhibit galleries and working radio and television studios.

"The Museum of Broadcast Communications is grateful that Governor Pat Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly have recognized the important role television and radio plays in our society. This generous leadership grant is the first major state government commitment to broadcast history, since radio was introduced to America in 1920. This public leadership must now energize an even larger national groundswell of media industry support to ensure a truly world class museum," said Bruce DuMont, President & CEO of MBC.

Industry support from Disney Hand, the charitable arm of The Walt Disney Company, Viacom's TV Land, NBC News, Cox Communications, Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Springer, Betty White, radio icon Norman Pattiz and the late Paul and Angel Harvey preceded the massive Illinois state commitment.

The project is funded through Illinois Jobs Now!, a $31 billion capital plan that will revive the state's ailing economy by creating and retaining over 439,000 jobs over the next six years. The Illinois Department of Commerce Economic Opportunity will administer the project. The MBC project will employ 200 workers for 10-12 months during its construction phase. Additional details about the new museum can be found at www.museum.tv

MBC is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to collect, preserve and present historic and contemporary radio and television content. It is one of only three museums dedicated to broadcast history in the nation, and is home to America's only National Radio Hall of Fame.

For additional information, please contact Marc Glick, 312-822-0512, mglick@museum.tv, or visit www.museum.tv.