The Jacksonville Area Museum will celebrate its fifth anniversary on Saturday, September 26 with free birthday cupcakes and a peek at the progress on the museum’s new gallery construction that will triple the institution’s exhibit space.
“Help us to celebrate our first five years on September 26 and get a glimpse of what’s in store for the next five years and beyond,” said Museum Manager Tori Ohl. “We thank all of our visitors and members for their patronage since 2021, and look forward to seeing many more people coming through our doors in the years to come.”
The Jacksonville Area Museum, which opened on September 25, 2021 and has since welcomed more than 12,000 visitors. The museum uses original artifacts, storytelling exhibits and the building itself, as well as items from the MacMurray College Foundation and Alumni Association collection, to show people of all ages and backgrounds why the Jacksonville community has been and continues to be one of a kind. The museum has hosted the Smithsonian’s nationally-renowned “Voices and Votes” traveling exhibit, recently hosted the Underground Railroad exhibit developed by the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition, and hosts the perennial favorite LEGO display each winter.
The museum is located in the old Post Office building at 301 E. State Street and exhibit galleries currently occupy the old lobby and office areas of the building. The new gallery under construction is located in the old mail sorting and handling area of the building, which occupies approximately two-thirds of the ground floor’s square footage. The new gallery features life-sized, life-like elm tree reproductions to help interpret Jacksonville’s “Elm City” moniker, and historically-inspired commercial building facades that will feature artifact exhibits in the window spaces. The old Post Office also includes a full basement which will be rehabilitated in the future as part of the museum’s ongoing development plans.
The Jacksonville Area Museum is open Wednesday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. There is no admission fee but a donation of $5 is suggested. Much of the museum’s operating budget comes from museum memberships, and members receive advance viewing of new and traveling exhibits, the first chance at admission for ticketed and special events, and members-only programs. Annual membership levels include Student, $25; Individual Sustaining, $45; Silver for families or couples, $60; Gold, $75; and Platinum, $100. Annual business membership levels include Sustaining, $150; Silver, $250; Gold, $350; and Platinum, $500. Gold and Platinum members in both the individual and business categories will receive recognition on the museum’s donor wall.