Grant to Pay for New Longhouse at Romeoville Museum

Submitted by the Forest Preserve District of Will County:

A $270,000 state grant announced on Saturday, June 14, will fund a new Native American Longhouse at the Forest Preserve District of Will County’s Isle a la Cache Museum in Romeoville. 

The existing longhouse, which opened in 2003, has deteriorated and needs to be replaced. The new longhouse will be built with man-made materials that are more weather resistant. The longhouse project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2015.

“This grant allows us to replace an 11-year-old structure, something the District would not have been able to do otherwise,” said Lynn Kurczewski, superintendent of public programs and education for the Forest Preserve District.

The grant also will be used to add interpretive signs, trees and lighting to the site and to make it more compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“Since 2003, the longhouse has been an integral part of our educational field trip program,” Kurczewski said. “More than 4,000 students visit the longhouse each school year to learn about Potawatomi life during the late 1700s.”

Isle a la Cache Museum, located at 501 E. Romeo Road, offers visitors an adventure in 18th century history, when the "Illinois Country" was home to French voyageurs and native Potawatomi. The Museum features interactive exhibits of the Great Lakes fur trade of the 1700s.

The Forest Preserve District operates one of 47 Illinois museums that will receive state capital investment grants totaling $20 million to improve their facilities and develop new exhibits, according to a press release from the governor’s office. The grants are part of Quinn’s Illinois Jobs Now! construction program.

“Museums play a vital role in telling us about our world and who we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going,” Quinn said. “These investments will help museums attract even more visitors, boost tourism, create hundreds of jobs and help preserve our history for generations to come.”

Two other Will County museums also were awarded grants. Bird Haven Greenhouse will receive $741,000 to install a glass ceiling, shad cloth and new growing houses. Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Bolingbrook will receive $104,500 to construct a wood pavilion with fireplace, tables and seating.