Chicago Children's Museum

The Chicago Children's Museum is located at Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1982 by the Junior League of Chicago in response to cuts in public school education programs. After early stints at the Chicago Public Library and several moves, the museum settled into its current home on the shore of Lake Michigan in 1995. Spread across three floors, the museum offers roughly 57,000 square feet (about 5,300 square meters) of exhibit space, along with educational activities, public programs, and special events. As the fourth-largest children's museum in the United States, it draws more than 650,000 visitors a year, reaching families both on site and in the surrounding community. After plans to move to Grant Park fell through in 2011, the museum secured a new 90-year lease at Navy Pier in 2012. The lease calls for expanding the museum's space by nearly 50 percent, to a total of 84,000 square feet, cementing its long-term presence at this central spot in the city.