New Exhibits Coming to Raupp Museum

Buffalo Grove’s Raupp Museum will gain three new exhibits, thanks to a grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).

The Buffalo Grove Park District will receive a $149,250 grant for the project, the district announced in a press release.

The money will be used to update the Raupp Museum’s Crossroads exhibit (formerly known as the Town Square exhibit). Additions will include The Prairie View Train Station, The Weidner General Store and the Geimer Greenhouse.

“Everyone is so excited to get this grant to renovate the Town Square exhibit.  While the exhibit is a favorite with all of the guests, it has remained almost unchanged since it was built over 30 years ago,” Raupp Museum Curator Debbie Fandrei said in the release. “The new exhibit will continue to have the store environments that our visitors love; but, they will now be larger, more interactive, and contain even more historical detail. “

For the first time, the exhibits will be completely ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible, Fandrei added. The new exhibits are expected to be in place in the summer of 2014.

The Raupp Museum, which is owned by the park district, is among 50 museums that will share $14.9 million in IDNR funding.

The level of local matching funds required for each project is based on each musuem’s attendance during the previous year.

Only those museums operated by or located upon land owned by a unit of local government are eligible for the grants, where are funded by capital development bonds.