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DuMont’s triumph: Broadcast museum back on track
After a four-year hiatus, construction is expected to resume today on Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications, thanks to a $6 million grant from the state of Illinois.
"The check is in the bank, and construction starts this coming Monday -- Flag Day," Bruce DuMont, founder and president of the museum, announced to thunderous applause Friday night before a gathering of Chicago's television elite at the Hilton Chicago. If all goes as planned, the 62,000-square-foot facility at State and Kinzie will open in 2011.
Gov. Pat Quinn showed up to deliver the news personally, underscoring the importance of Chicago in the history of television and radio, and saluting DuMont's singular vision for the museum. Said Quinn:
"I talked to a number of our legislators in Illinois, and they have the same feeling as I do that this is something that we need to build. I know everyone here tonight has made a commitment to help that happen. There's a lot of opportunity in our state to create jobs by focusing on tourism and building tourism. The Museum of Broadcast Communications can add to our great museums that we have all across Chicago and all across Illinois. That's why as governor of our state, I've made a commitment under our capital bill that passed about a year ago -- the legislature passed it, I signed it into law -- and we're going to invest $6 million of capital money for the Museum of Broadcast Communications."
Quinn was actually fulfilling a promise made years earlier by his predecessor, ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich, to help fund the project. When Blago reneged and the state's share was not forthcoming, construction ceased on the half-finished building in May 2006. DuMont thanked the leadership and members of the Illinois General Assembly and praised Quinn as "a governor who keeps his promise."
The timing of the capital grant could not have been more perfect, coinciding with "A Salute to Chicago Television," a $350-a-plate fundraiser for the museum at the Hilton Friday night. The crowd of 365 included scores of Chicago's greatest living television personalities and their heirs. As DuMont and co-emcee Dean Richards introduced more than 85 past and present stars, each rose to bask in the spotlight for a moment or two.
Especially moving was the spontaneous and heartfelt standing ovation for Roger Ebert, who was seated with his wife, Chaz. Also at Ebert's table were Marlene Iglitzen (widow of Ebert's late partner, Gene Siskel) and Thea Flaum, the producer who created the iconic Siskel & Ebert partnership.
A highlight of the evening was a 10-minute video incorporating thousands of images and sounds from the past 60 years of the medium. It's now accessible online on the museum's website. To view it, go to museum.tv and click on the link that says "Chicago Television: The Video."
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62,000 square feet? That's $6 million from the folks who brought cuts of $85.2 million in this year's Illinois budget for education in grades K-12. i like old tv, radio and commercials as much as anyone, but the priorities seem askew. No...totally goofy.
Soon all of radio will be in a museum. Q for Robert: Is there any news on WiFi being available in cars and allowing for podcasts to be listened to as easy as traditional terrestrial radio? I think that will need to happen to really put the nail in the coffin of radio as we know it. I think eventually terrestrial signals will be used mainly for things like local emergency and amber alerts.
I don't know why we are using state money for a vanity project.
Roger is a class act, as even Al Lopez' grandson must know.
When will the news of Garry Meier being s-canned for being lousy be announced? After the next poker game? I hear he mixes a mean drink for the suits.
62,000 square feet? That’s $6 million from the folks who brought cuts of $85.2 million in this year’s Illinois budget for education in grades K-12. i like old tv, radio and commercials as much as anyone, but the priorities seem askew. No…totally goofy
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Thomas:
You can't use capital money for an operating budget. There are two different pots of money that can't be comingled under the law. So this $6 million may be "taken" from roads etc., but not from schools or the budget deficit.
I agree with quotidian with all the money the state is in debt why use any of OUR money on this. I am sure that Mr. DuMont and his buddies could get private funds and come up with the $6 million that is chump change for some.
Terrestrial radio will be around for a long time. No need for histrionics.
While many will be screaming about wasting taxpayers dollars, This is monies that Blago screwed The Museum and Mr DuMont out of years ago. This project deserves to get done. It will create jobs, It will be good for tourism, And quite frankly it will be pretty F-ning cool! Congratulations to Governor Quinn for stepping up and help making this happen. Now get back to work figuring out ways to pry more money from our wallets!
Right now at this very moment, as I'm writing this, Howard Stern is mocking the announcement about this. As he just said, "There IS no Radio Hall of Fame. It's a guy in his basement giving out awards"
"And the Radio Fall of Hame is every loser who's ever been in radio"
"There's only one award. They ask for it back to pass it along to the next person"
And once again he's stated that does not want the award
85 past and present stars were announced - I'll assume Larry Lujack was still at home in New Mexico - holed up like Howard Hughes
Anyone who visited the Museum's old site in the basement of the Cultural Center can attest to the value of this effort. It was done very well in my opinion. If memory serves this new permanent site will include space that can be utilized for presentations, meetings and events. Unique spaces in the center of the city are always in demand. I'm confident the Museum will be 'must see' stuff and a feather in the city's cap.
I have mixed feelings about the State of Illinois grant at this time. While I am in favor of the Museum being built, I dont think that this is the time or the place to get state funds while schools, roads, etc, crumble around us. Once the economy gets better, then it would be time for cultural items to be built. In the meantime, why was the "temporary" museum at the Cultural Center taken down? We havent been able to see any of those exhibits for years? I'd pay a few dollars to walk around them again. That could help towards the funding of the permanent building.
Kudos to Ted Lilly on his pitching performance last night.
I am still waiting for Roger Ebert's complaint about the insensitivity to the Blackhawk tribe shown by the local entry in the National Hockey League. What is the difference between this and Chief Illiniwek?
I cannot believe $6 million is being spent on a home for Romberg Rabbit. Why would a tourist care about Chicago tv? Someone from Sheboygan is bound to be dismayed to learn that his Bozo was not the only one. But better that the money is wasted on this museum than on the schools since there is no causal nexus between per pupil expenditure and academic achievement.
This has been a work in progress for several years. I've visited since it was in River City, then the Chicago Cultural Center...don't knock it if you haven't seen it. It's a fantastic attraction for the city as well as a nostalgic look at early television. Bruce DuMont has put his heart, soul, and own money in this educational project.
A total waste of taxpayer money. The museum is DuMont's vanity project, pure and simple, and given that he hosts a tv and radio show on Illinois politics, the donation is a flagrant conflict of interest. A true museum would be charged with caring for the material in its collection. MBC has done absolutely nothing to preserve television in Chicago or anywhere else. This will be a big glossy building with thousands of hours of television film and tape rotting away in the basement, never to be seen and certainly never to be preserved. Boo.
Waste of money? Well, anything could be argued in some way to be a waste of taxpayer money. If DuMont wants to put the time and effort in to make this happen, and he gets support from politicians (as he did) then "More Power To Him" as they say. If anyone really felt strongly enough against the funding then they could have fought against it, but the bottom line is if someone has a passion strong enough in something and gets enough people on their side, then it's going to happen sooner or later. (it doesn't hurt to be connected too)
I have been working to search out and preserve little nuggets of Chicago TV history for many years, and I have my own venue for displaying them. It would be nice if Bruce could see the value in what I'm doing and support my efforts, as that would only benefit the preservation of Chicago TV as a whole. Would I like to see more of the MBC's resources going toward searching out this material and preserving it as I have been doing? Sure, but it seems like not as much will move forward on that end until this building is up. So let's get it done and *finally* move on.
CAPITAL GRANTS vs. TAX PAYER MONEY
Taxpayer money cannot be used for capital projects and capital money cannot be used for general operating expenses. Capital bills are passed and money is raised by selling bonds for construction projects- which additionally creates jobs. Taxpayer money is used to run the government and it's programs.
The operating budget is the list of ongoing costs to operate government such as gasoline, office supplies, and wages. A capital budget is the list of funds used to purchase things such as buildings, vehicles, heavy equipment and new construction. In 40 states, capital financing mechanisms can be utilized for infrastructural investment needs. The capital budget is primarily funded through the issuance of state general obligation bonds for large, capital-intensive projects including land acquisition, construction, and state government IT projects. Typically, states issue the bonds to investors with the promise to repay the debt either through the state’s taxing authority or the revenue generated by the projects the bonds finance.
Specifically, the Illinois Capital bill includes $14.3 billion for work on roads and bridges, $7 billion for other transportation projects such as high-speed rail, $3.6 billion for primary education - most of it for building schools - and $1.5 billion for education. A museum is an educational institution- and the funds are being used to construct the building.
Furthermore, this is not a new "vanity project". The museum has been in existence for nearly 25 years and has had two very successful locations. Museum attendance topped 250,000 in the Chicago Cultural Center- which rivals the Museum of Contemporary Art and the DuSable Museum- and just below yearly visitors at the Chicago History Museum. Additionally, the MBC's website has over 3 million visitors per year has authored two award winning encyclopedias on Television, Radio and Advertising and recently published a highly successful book on the history of "Chicago Television". The MBC is also an online partner with the archives of the national "Academy of Television Arts & Sciences". With nearly 100,000 hours of programming- thousands of hours have been digitized and continue to be digitized to preserve the content from tapes, including both national and local television and radio.
For a multi-million dollar fundraising campaign, the museum has already raised $20M with private and corporate donations including Oprah Winfrey, Paul & Angel Harvey, Lee Phillip Bell, Viacom's TVLand, CBS, NBC, ABC/Disney, The Polk Bros. Foundation, The Driehaus Foundation, Tawani Foundation, Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, The MacArthur Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, The Guild Family Foundation, The Bergen Family Foundation, The Siragusa Foundation, the DisneyHand Foundation, The Jim Moran Foundation, The Cox Foundation, The Brinson Foundation, the Field Foundation, Illinois Arts Council, the GE Foundation, individual donors from the general public and the media industry (to name a few) and promotional support by State Farm, Nielsen Company, American Airlines and more. The MBC also has respected relationships with Columbia College and Syracuse University.
As for the Radio Hall of Fame, Howard Stern indeed should be in the Radio Hall of Fame, but needs to be voted in like the rest of the inductees. You can vote beginning TODAY at radiohof.org.
I can only hope that with 62,000 square feet of museum space that the long needed and much deserved Melissa Forman Frolic Fiesta will be part of the permanent exhibits. Maybe they'll put it right next to the Dr. James Dobson area of the Radio Hall Of Fame.
Kind of like our lil fling into Iraq is total waste of taxpayers money.
The museum has been in the works for many years! The state had allocated monies for this project years ago but Blagovich stiffed them out of it. It's not as though the money for it was asked for yesterday. Glad to hear it will happen!! It's been a long time coming!
What part of the theory of being broke is Quinn missing? Stop spending now for all but necessities, please. Capitol funds and operating funds all. All are creating debt and have to be rectified by the voters this fall.
What part of not subsidizing churches or houses of worship do people not understand. Its time to start taxing those that take a stand on issues. We NEED the money. And the Republican candidate is too worried about the menace of "gay marriage" to be bothered with governing this state.
Wonder what that six million could have done if allocated, instead, to one of the agencies that truly deserve it. DCFS? Schools? State Police?
Not saying the MBC won't be terrific, but I'd sure rather see more troopers working in the counties Downstate where they are often the only backup available for local officers, more investigations of cases of abuse against children, more money for educating children (our future TV anchors?). I don't know but making videos of Fahey Flynn and Romberg Rabbit available to tourists from Morris doesn't seem nearly as important.
DuMont got his wish finally and now he can build this place to completion but like the readers are saying, this is his pet project and he could go ahead and allocate some more of his own money to invest into this thing too.
"Bruce DuMont has put his heart, soul, and own money in this educational project."
Definitely agree. One question to ask is: "As President of the MBC, how much salary has he made since they City removed the operation from Cultural Center?"
Also, civics lesson folks: where does the money come from to pay for the bond interest (assuming it is not entirely generated by the museum)? And, when the legislature votes and lists priorities on capital expenditures, how did MBC go to the top of the list? Blago or no Blago.
Yes, the MBC is a good thing whose time came 25 years ago. And lots of people visited it. But, why do they need 62,000 sq. feet in 2010? That's more space than a football field, including the end zones.
Ah well, we love TV and radio in this town.
Maybe not commercials as much as MBC, but whddaya gonna do? They pay their bills too.
Here's the challenge: preserving the cultural legacy of a region is everyone's responsibility, despite most of us routinely ignoring that obligation. We all say that we'd prefer not to have public funds used on projects like this, but we also spend our own money elsewhere and abandon the vital task of capturing the important elements of our own history. I doubt anyone will argue that broadcast and media have a special place in Chicago's identity. Rob Feder's career is a testament to that; here the best and the brightest in the media cover, well, the media. So why shouldn't the public, through a government grant, be responsible for building a museum like this to ensure future generations understand the role that broadcast plays here? Could a handful of wealthy people do that instead? Sure. But they haven't. If the solution is to abandon the effort and raise a generation of Chicagoans ignorant to our broadcast story, I don't like the way that future looks. Count me as a taxpayer who supports the idea of making this capital investment. Education takes place in museums, too. Kudos to Pat Quinn.
This might come back to bite the Governor in the behind. I'm surprised he signed on to this right before an election. If the majority of folks on a media message board think this is a "not such a great idea in this economic climate", you have to think the rest of the state will really think it's a dum move! Sorry Bruce, good idea, wrong time!
Speaking of Bruce, will the car that Bruce Wolf keyed at the auto show be at the museum? I might sign on if it is!
i wonder if craig will come up with a broadcast museum?
As a public institution, I think there is a website where you can look up the MBCs tax returns and see how much DuMont has earned as President for the year. IIRC, at least at one point it was $100k a year or so. Seems fair, right? Just like Daniel Schmidt's is, the head of WTTW.
I wonder how many schools, hospitals, or mental health facilities could have been remodeled with all that money. DuMont could have moved into one of the City College facilities into one of their empty classroom buildings.
To the guy blathering about not using capital money for operating expenses....
The state often "borrows" from funds that have money to shore up funds in other areas, e.g. the "road" fund.
Also, the legislature writes laws, they can also unwrite them. (Remember the Lottery was supposed to fund education ?).
Times are too tough to waste $6MM so that Bruce can have his shrine.
Presumably the real money will be made for corporate outings and other social events to be hosted there.
To take money from schools and the needy so that some day-trippers from Des Moines, IA can look at old tapes of Hardrock, CoCo and Joe or Chelveston the duck or Cuddley Duddley or old Funny Company and Clutch Cargo cartoons is a crime.
In response to #16. What I would like to see is one report on the MBC that isn't infiltrated by this blowhard who can't seem to post a response without passing up an opportunity to promote himself. Hey fuzzy, you'd better get to the doctor so he can take care of that elbow you've blown out from patting yourself on the back once again.
Good news -- sure, maybe this isn't the state's highest priority with the current economy, but it's good to see some follow-through on this after all this time. I certainly hope, though, that they have all their ducks in a row -- the MBC (apart from their website) has been shuttered for a long time, I don't even remember how long, but it's been years. It will be great to see this project completed.
David (or Mark Yurkiw seems more likely) - Sigh...Why all the negativity? I support the MBC's mission and I'm doing my part to try and save some TV history myself - what's the big deal? If you don't care for it, then you don't have to visit my site. Lighten up, Francis.
Great--fat ass right-winger Dumont gets money from state, while teachers are being fired and class sizes bulge like Bruce's waistline. Thanks Gov. Quinn for your PR priorities! Shouldn't education
perhaps be your priority?
Not that it matters, but I am not "David." Again, congrats to the MBC.
Nope it's David. I don't know who Francis or Mark are either. My post had nothing to do with whether or not I care to visit 'your' site or not. I read this blog every day and whenever there is a post about the MBC, you feel the need to piggyback off any announcement and insert a commercial for yourself as if you two are linked together somehow; which you are not. While it's great that you support the MBCs mission, leave it at that. You obviously have your own site for all the publicity you want. Just my opinion.
Isn't this nice? The North Suburban Library System can't run because the state won't pay them what they were originally budgeted for in the first place....and the broadcast museum gets $6M? WTF is that???
Ok, on a side note, I do look forward to the completion of the museum (finally), but priorities here folks???
I've seen both museums.The MBC,and FUZZY MEMORIES TV - THE MUSEUM OF CLASSIC CHICAGO TELEVISION.Both are very good,and do important work.It only seems fair for the MBC to share a small part of their six million dollars with THE MUSEUM OF CLASSIC CHICAGO TELEVISION,if the MBC's goal is to preserve the history of Chicago television.This should be a community effort,and fans like me will benefit in having two active museums.
There should not even be a Museum of Broadcast Communications. Or rather, the "museum" should be online, where people can view the clips at will. There is absolutely no need for a bricks-and-mortar museum -- certainly not to house boring clips from decades of crap TV for the sake of mindless nostalgia, and especially not at the cost of millions in public funds at a time when state governments are going broke and infrastructure is crumbling. Anyone who thinks out-of-town tourists will flock to a museum to see old clips of Kukla & Ollie, Garfield Goose, and Bill & Walter needs their head examined. What an obscene boondoggle this is. Sadly typical of Chicago.
I am all in favor of the Hall Of Fame and will visit when it opens.
But, this is NOT the time to be spending any money capitol or whatever on anything. Our state is in dire financial shape and shouldn't be handing any money out to anyone for anything not essential. Pass a law that says if the state has millions in a capitol account, they can us it to pay bills and stop from laying off teachers. Completely wrong in my book.
Mark – My apologies.
David - Your comments have absolutely no validity unless you identify yourself. Stop hiding in the shadows, and e-mail me or call me directly and I'd be happy to discuss this and any other issues to your heart's content.
Oh, and respectfully, you're dead wrong on your assertion that "whenever there is a post about the MBC, you feel the need to piggyback off any announcement and insert a commercial for yourself as if you two are linked together somehow". I have never done this, go back and check all the comments (you can do this through Google). I do fill in my website address in the provided field when leaving a comment. If you think there's something wrong with that then go harrass Rich Samuels for doing the same thing then. Or Ted Okuda for putting Steve Jajkowski's website address in the actual text of his comment on Feder's 1-29-10 entry. Or better yet, leave everyone alone.
Oh, and the MBC and my website DO have a relevant connection - we were both formed for the purpose of preserving and displaying Chicago TV history. So there is nothing wrong with mentioning both. Anyone who is a fan of the MBC is very likely to also be a fan of my site, and vice versa. Just because I'm "the little guy" doesn't mean I can't point out a commonality in missions.
According to tax records, as of 2008 Dumont is paying himself $115k per year to run a non-entity. That year's fundraising event broke even. I have heard pleading ads on the radio for contributions to the museum. My guess is that the $6m from taxpayer pockets will finish the building but there will not be any exhibits to go inside. Expect Dumont to come back with his hand outstretched.
....and don't forget, there has not been a project in this town that has not gone over budget. something tells me that the $6MM that was needed to finish two years ago will probably have to be adjusted for inflation (unless he is using non-union labor to construct the bldg.).
Again, congrats MBC. As I said before, let’s get this building built, and the museum to take it’s rightful place once more. Then maybe everyone will calm down and we can all work together for the benefit of preserving Chicago TV history, something we can all agree on.
The grant is a done deal, the check is cashed, so arguing about it is moot. New York has their museum; this city deserves a great TV museum too, and there are a lot of things you can only experience in person and not online. I'm not being facetious when I say this: I want to see the Garfield Goose puppets again, I want to have a venue to attend various events with our well-remembered TV stars, I want to be able to stand in Svengoolie's coffin when he eventually retires (although no sign of that happening yet, thankfully) and take my picture there. I want to visit the Family Classics set and sit in Frazier's chair and touch the books. (if they'll let me) There is something magical in all those items. I honestly miss the physical building of the MBC that you could go to. So, despite not seeing eye-to-eye at times, I give a sincere kudos to Bruce DuMont. He took a dire situation that many people would have given up over years ago and pulled out a win.
And at the risk of appearing self-serving, I'll just say this - if Mr. DuMont believes that I can contribute something worthwhile to his museum eventually, then he will decide that – otherwise, I’ll just continue to do my own thing and preserve what I and others consider worthy of preservation; material which, for right or wrong, is generally being neglected or overlooked by other museums.
Well if you want to take a walk down memory lane for mothballed ridden Romberg Rabbit puppets and the like, take it at your own dime.
It is hard to justify having spent $6MM on this when kids are having classes in broom-closets and boiler-rooms due to overcrowding.
Okay...so my feelings are mixed...on one hand, I'm glad that this museum finally looks like it might be built. As someone who lived away from Chicago for eight years and ergo was a tourist in his own land when he'd come back to visit, I was always disappointed when I wanted to go visit the place and it was STILL not open.
On the other hand, I do wonder where the State came up with the $6 million, which could easily fund the salaries of 120 teachers who will be fired because of the state's mismanagement of money. So it comes from funds that legally cannot be crossed into the pool of funds that go to schools?? Sure. And tell me that the Illinois government (or ANY government, for that matter) isn't breaking its own rules.
Will tourists stop in to visit? Depends on what you mean by tourists. If by "tourists" you mean people who've never set foot near Chicago and are here on vacation, ehhh...hard to tell. If you want to learn Chicago, why not learn about its history in electronic media?? How is it different from taking an architecture tour, going to the Sears Tower Skydeck, taking a ride on the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier, or (when you COULD) go shopping at the Marshall Field & Company flagship store? (And let the records show that the MBC in New York is quite a popular spot.)
What about "tourists" who, like me, were displaced from Chicago for a long time? Again, I was really disappointed for eight years of coming back twice a year and not being able to see the museum and maybe watch some old-time Chicago TV clips. And I wanted to give my New Jersey-born wife a taste of what I watched when I was a tyke.
Or perhaps you live in the suburbs and take an occasional trip into the city. Certainly you wouldn't mind reliving old memories.