Enhancing museum campus as a global, year-round destination
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August 31, 2022Enhancing museum campus as a global, year-round destination
Civic Consulting Alliance staff are experienced in coordinating large groups of stakeholders with diverse ideas and priorities to “get big things done.” We partnered with the Mayor’s Office to support and facilitate the Museum Campus Working Group. The final report, “Where Worlds Connect,” provides recommendations to transform Museum Campus into a more accessible, relevant, and attractive public space that is activated year-round.
Reimagining the “Crown Jewel” of Chicago
Tourism is a major driver of Chicago’s economy. To build on the recommendations by the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the formation of the Museum Campus Working Group to further revitalize the City’s recovering tourism by enhancing the Campus’ appeal as a global, year-round destination for tourists, and more culturally relevant and accessible for all residents.
Museum Campus is a 307-acre crown jewel of Chicago with premier tourist and resident-favored institutions including the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, the Adler Planetarium, Soldier Field, and the Lakeside Center of McCormick Place. It also includes natural areas and parks, such as the 12th Street Beach, Northerly Island Park, and the Lakefront Trail.
The Museum Campus Working Group, announced in February 2022, included 23 distinguished civic leaders, including board members of Civic Consulting Alliance. The members were organized into thematic sub-groups to develop recommendations across four areas: open space and recreation, cultural amenities, athletic facilities, and transit access.
Setting the Course with a Large Group
Civic Consulting Alliance was asked by the Mayor’s Office to be a thought partner to structure and steer the overall effort, which drew on our capabilities in strategy development, implementation planning, and management to ensure that the Museum Campus Working Group could meet its milestones and deliver a final report within a 12-week timeframe.
In leading up to the kick-off plenary session, our team, which included pro bono partner Protiviti, met with each Working Group member to gather initial ideas that would inform the start of the activities and develop an initial set of hypotheses for the Working Group to consider. These meetings helped refine the project timeline and work plan that would be driven by our team.
Following the kick-off, the team paired with each sub-group and supported the leads along a series of working sessions to develop a set of tactics for the short-term, and strategic ideas for long-term transformation. These ideas were organized and refined in monthly meetings with the full Working Group.
Facilitating Knowledge to Develop Recommendations
In addition to facilitating the Working Group’s activities and meetings, our staff dedicated time to compiling research and making it accessible to the group. “We wanted to ensure that the working group had the knowledge and context to build the report and recommendations,” explained Antonio Benecchi, Principal at Civic Consulting Alliance. “The Working Group had an ongoing appetite for information throughout the process.”
Civic Consulting Alliance set up a centralized resource library so that the Working Group and civic stakeholders could easily share information like historical documents, original plans for the park, and other public information sources. In some cases, the team generated analyses of data to complement the information that was available to support decision-making.
Through sub-group working sessions, and plenary meetings, our team facilitated, structured, and captured the Working Group’s diverse ideas and priorities to provide a final set of strategic recommendations to be included in the final report that would be delivered to the Mayor’s Office.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with the Civic Consulting Alliance team on the Museum Campus project. Their expertise helped the group to formulate recommendations that have the potential to advance economic growth in the region and create a more inclusive environment for all to enjoy.”
– Richard Price, Museum Campus Working Group Chair, Executive Chairman, Mesirow
A Roadmap to Transformative Economic Development
The final report, “Where Worlds Connect,” provides a roadmap for city stakeholders to act on recommendations to heighten Museum Campus’ appeal and accessibility to both tourists and Chicagoans. The group’s vision for Museum Campus is articulated around five key themes that will drive transformative experiences for generations to come:
- An Exciting Place to Be: Transformational place-making and enhanced programming and amenities will activate underutilized spaces to enrich the visitor experience.
- An Urban Nature Retreat: The transformative power of landscaping with native species will amplify the natural beauty of Museum Campus.
- A Place Everyone Can Enjoy: New amenities, inclusive design, and coordinated programming will attract and welcome all, from each Chicago neighborhood, to visitors from across the world.
- A Connected Destination: World-class connectivity will take full advantage of all modes of mobility to connect Chicago’s neighborhoods, the Chicago region, and the world to the Campus.
- Bringing It All Together: The vision for the Campus will be pursued in a coordinated way that maximizes the mutually reinforcing aspects of individual recommendations to compound the benefits of future investment.
The report, “Where Worlds Connect” and the overview website, detail the Museum Campus Working Group’s 35 recommendations to enhance the Campus experience as a global, year-round destination that will attract and be relevant to all residents and tourists with different interests, lifestyles, and needs.