Two Naperville museums have been awarded grants from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
Naper Settlement and the DuPage Children’s Museum received around $841,000 combined through the Illinois Public Museum Capital Grant.
Naper Settlement
The $749,700 Naper Settlement received will go toward one of their major capital projects.
The settlement plans to build a new agricultural interpretive center which will include an agricultural lab.
The lab will serve as a science center for students with programs and opportunities to speak with industry professionals.
“Kids get interested in agriculture too late. So they’re interested in STEM careers,” said President and CEO of Naper Settlement Rena Tamayo-Calabrese. “In biology, in chemistry, in engineering and they’re looking for those fields of study but are not thinking that agriculture is actually all STEM based.”
DuPage Children’s Museum
And though the DuPage Children’s Museum offers many STEM activities, their $92,000 will be used for roof maintenance.
“It’s not the most exciting thing, but when you think about making sure that your home is safe and warm and allows you to do the things that you need to do, you have to invest in it,” said Andrea Wiles, President and CEO of DuPage Children’s Museum. “And this $92,000 is critical to making sure that that building continues to be functional and supportive of the fabulous things that go on in the building when we’re open.”
Museum capital grants are available to non-profit public museums.
Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.
