American Writers Museum

  

American Writers Museum Foundation Receives Grant 

from the Chicago Community Trust

Funds will support efforts to make Chicago home to nation's 

first museum focused on American writers

 

September 27, 2012 -- The American Writers Museum Foundation today announced they are the recipient of a grant from The Chicago Community Trust, metropolitan Chicago's community foundation.

 

The American Writers Museum will be the first national museum in the U.S. dedicated to American writers. 

 

According to American Writers Museum Foundation President Malcolm E. O'Hagan, the Trust grant money has been instrumental in enabling the foundation to select one of the nation's leading museum consultants, Dennis Barrie of Barrie Projects in Cleveland, Ohio, to conduct an economic feasibility study and a museum site analysis, the next steps in planning the museum. The study will consist of, among other things, analyzing resident and tourist markets, revenue-producing components, facility needs, and possible locations.  

 

Among Barrie's numerous successful museum projects are the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, and the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.  His most recent project is the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, which is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors and generate more than $20 million in total economic benefits over the next decade. In all these projects, attracting visitors from the region and from afar has been a major element in planning. 

   

Similarly, American Writers Museum Foundation supporters envision the museum as a world-class attraction that will boost tourism in Chicago and enhance the city's profile as a cultural destination.

 

For 97 years, The Chicago Community Trust has been the region's community foundation, connecting the generosity of donors with community needs by making grants to organizations working to improve metropolitan Chicago. In 2011, the Trust, together with its donors, granted more than $100 million to nonprofit organizations. To learn more, visit the Trust online at cct.org

 

The mission of the American Writers Museum Foundation is to establish the first national museum in the United States dedicated to engaging the public in celebrating American writers and exploring their influence on our history, our identity, our culture and our daily lives.  Learn more and read the museum's concept plan at americanwritersmuseum.org.

 

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Media contact:

Helen Sullivan

[email protected]

703 606 7622