We’re not unfamiliar with a big name change in Chicago. From Sears Tower to Lake Shore Drive, some of the city’s most iconic features will often suddenly change named either in honor of someone or due to a change it ownership.
Only a couple of months ago towards the end of March, it was reported that Colombus Drive could be renamed Barack Obama Drive after former President of the United States. Now another change to a Chicago hotspot has been officially enacted, only luckily this time it’s only a slight adaption.
The South Side’s Museum of Science and Industry has been renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry this coming Sunday, in honor of billionaire Ken Griffin, who donated $125 million to the museum back in 2019.
In celebration, the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, as it is now known for short, launched several new experiences on Sunday, May 19th all made possible by Griffin’s donation.
“On Sunday, May 19, the Museum of Science and Industry will officially be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in recognition of the historic $125 million gift from Kenneth C. Griffin, Founder and CEO of Citadel and Founder of Griffin Catalyst,” read the official museum release.
“The donation, which was previously announced in October 2019 and is the largest in the museum’s history, will ensure that generations of visitors will continue to discover the wonders and joys of scientific exploration at one of the world’s premier science museums.”
In addition to the name change, the museum unveiled a new modernized logo that “preserves the iconic cube logomark paired with the Museum’s new name in the Big Shoulders typeface-chosen specifically for its ties to the city of Chicago.”
Some of the most exciting news, however, is of course the new experiences and exhibits. A one-of-a-kind digital space named the Griffin Studio opened its premiere exhibition Notes to Neurons, “a multimedia experience that utilizes immersive audio, gesture, and movement recognition, and other interactive technologies to actively engage guests on a journey to discover the power of music in our lives and its ability to connect us to one another.”
The Henry Crown Space Center has also been extensively renovated with new multimedia and interactives to deliver the most up-to-date information about space exploration missions and exhibit iconic space artifacts.
It is now the home of the new SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft exhibition which undertook two missions to the International Space Station in 2017 and 2019 spending a total of 63 days in space.
A new Giant Dome Theatre film experience was also unveiled along with the opening of Superhuman Body: World of Medical Marvels which tells inspiring stories of the researchers, doctors, scientists, and patients behind ground-breaking medical innovations while exhibiting how science and technology help us to intervene when things go wrong with our bodies.
“This gift helps us create exhibits of the future geared toward the next generation of scientists and leaders; it allows us to dig our heels in deeper to support science education in local schools and neighborhoods in new, more profound ways; and it enables us to carry out our mission to inspire the inventive genius in all of us,” said President of the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, Dr. Chevy Humphrey, in an official statement this week.
The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry is located at 5700 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive and is open daily from 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Read the full museum press release.