05/19/2026
The standard price to visit the Obama Presidential Center when it debuts next month will be $30. Across the Columbia Basin in the Jackson Park Lagoon, the Griffin Museum of Science & Industry has been thinking about how to deep-six a general admission fee that is almost as pricey.
The museum was free of charge for everyone until 1991, when attendance was more than double what it is now. CEO Chevy Humphrey wants to offer that deal again, perhaps in time for the institution’s 100th anniversary in 2033.
General admission tickets ($25.95 for adults) account for one-fifth of annual revenue, so getting to that free-admission goal will be quite a challenge. A big donor or two would help. Lassoing them is a pursuit Humphrey and museum trustees say she’s good at.
During her first year on the job, in 2021, Humphrey was struck by how many people mentioned being able to “just walk in” to the museum when they were younger. “And that’s something that’s stayed with me,” she says.
Humphrey, 61, is a Houston native who ran the Arizona Science Center. With exhibits like “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing,” she is trying to broaden the Chicago museum’s appeal.
Read more here: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/nonprofits-philanthropy/ccb-museum-of-science-and-industry-admission-20260515/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=soc-own