Museum of Science and Industry

The museum occupies a beautiful Beaux-Arts building designed by Charles C. Atwood. It was built for the 1893 World Columbian Exposition as the Palace of Fine Arts. After the fair the building was occupied by the Field Museum. But in 1921 the Field museum moved to its current home in Grant Park and the building, which was initially constructed as temporary structure, started to deteriorate fast.

In 1926, Julius Rosenwald, owner of Sears, Roebuck & Co. came to the rescue. Inspired by a visit in 1911 to the Deutsches Museum in Munich featuring interactive exhibits, he wanted to bring such a museum to Chicago. Thanks to a donation of 3 million dollar, the new Industrial museum was founded as the Rosenwald Industrial Museum.

When looking for a building to house the museum, the empty Palace of Fine Arts came into focus. Another 5 million dollar was spent on the restoration of the building. The plaster-clad building was reconstructed with limestone and marble. The original exterior beaux-arts design, including the 24 caryatids, was kept while the interior was adapted to its new purpose as an industry museum. In 1928, the museum changed its name to Museum of Science and Industry, and it officially opened in 1933, just in time for the Century of Progress Exposition. The building was designated as a Chicago Landmark in 1995.

The museum has three floors, covering a total of 350,000 sq ft or 32,520 sq m. It has more than 800 exhibits and over 2,000 interactive units. The museum attracts close to 2 million visitors per year.

Among the many exhibits are a WWII German U-505 submarine, an Apollo 8 Commando Module (the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon), a cantilevered Boeing, a WWII British Spitfire and a 1914 Ford Model T.
The museum also has a large section on the human body. Among the items on display is a 20ft tall walk-through model of a heart and there's also a permanent exhibit covering AIDS.

The energy section includes a reconstruction of a 1933 Illinois coal mine which allows people to descend 50 ft into the mine. It was the first exhibit of the museum, but it is still one of the main attractions. In the environmental section you have an interactive display explaining the ozone layer and pollution.

Other attractions include a Fairy Castle (a 9sq ft dollhouse with working electricity and plumbing), a 3,000 sq ft model railroad, an omnimax theater, flight simulators and even a baby chick hatchery.

Attractions change over time, to get the latest information check out the website of the Museum of Science and Industry www.msichicago.org.