Marking its 100th (sort of)

Elgin Mayor Earle Kelley addresses a crowd at the Audubon Museum during Elgin Days on Aug. 2, 1929. The Elgin Audubon Society operated the museum from the 1920s to the 1960s.

One of Elgin's well-known institutions -- the Elgin Public Museum in Lords Park -- is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Well, sort of.

Historical purists would note that it is the building, not the museum operation, that is 100 years old.

The facility, in fact, didn't open until 1920 -- a delay caused by controversy and the death of a key individual during the construction period.

The inspiration for the Elgin Public Museum dates back to the fall of 1901. Newspapers reported that George Lord, who along with his wife, Mary, donated and developed the land for Lords Park to the city a decade earlier, was considering the addition of a museum to the park.

The "fireproof" structure was to house many of the natural history specimens that he had acquired on his world travels, which were then stored at the park pavilion. Others likely would donate objects as well, Lord said.

A few months later, the finance committee of the city council appropriated $5,000 for the building construction -- money that was later approved by the city council.

With the exception of the tile work, the commission awarded all employment to local contractors.

Using plans drawn by local architect David Postle, work began on the central hall and west wing of this Greek Revival building.

And then the difficulties began.

The parks commission had no right to award the bids without the approval of the full city council, several aldermen charged. They also said commission members failed to advertise for bids as was required by law.

When it was discovered that an Elgin firm was hired to replace a Chicago business that said it would do the job for less, that action also came under fire.

"I am confident the board acted without knowledge of the law," Elgin Mayor Price said when explaining the situation. "They probably believed it was within their power to name the contractors without consulting with the council."

As the building neared completion, city council members also learned that the structure was not "fireproof" as originally planned.

"The changes were made as the time came for the roof to be put on and the interior work completed," the museum curator later said. "It was because of Mr. Lord's judgment that the changes were made," he added.

Matters were further complicated when the aldermen could not find the original contract. When the architect was asked by the council to produce his original plans, that request also went unfulfilled.

Park custodian Davy Walker made his feeling about the museum quite clear.

"Elgin's costly museum is a white elephant in the city's park," Walker said.

"It is impossible to heat the building without using an absurdly large amount of coal. The doors do not close and there are cracks in the windows. It is also in the wrong place," Walker added.

The city council reluctantly "accepted the museum" in November 1907 after spending a total of $26,000 on the project -- $1,000 more than budgeted.

Plans were announced to open the building, which along with Lord's specimens would include paintings, military records and memorabilia that had been donated by interested citizens.

To help fill the void, schoolchildren were told to ask their parents if they had items to loan or donate.

But, the passing of George Lord during the museum's construction proved to be a death blow to the building's opening.

A November 1907 opening was scheduled -- a date that was later moved to January 1908. Both passed without the facility opening.

Finally, in 1920 the Elgin Audubon Society opened the museum, filling it with many of the group's bird specimens. In the 1960s, the facility came under city control.

Since the mid-1980s, the municipally owned museum has been operated by the Elgin Public Museum Inc. Under this body's professional direction, the collection has been expanded and the number of programs -- especially for children -- has been greatly increased.

This stands in stark contrast to life a century ago, when lack of interest and vision kept the city's new museum closed for more than a decade.

Elgin Public Museum - "By the Numbers"

100 - Number of years museum building has existed

87- Number of years museum has been open to the public

3 - Number of wings originally designed for the building

2 - Number of wings currently on building

1 - Number of wings on building when it first opened as a museum

5,000 - Number of collection items in the data base

3 - Number of directors in past 30 years

6 - Number of part-time employees

0 - Number of full-time employees

1,000 - Number of programs presented in an average year

2 - Number of extinct species on display

25 -Number of dollars required for an annual museum membership

3,000 - Number of school children who attended the 2006 "Touching on Traditions" holiday program

1,500 - Number of people who visited the museum's first Hispanic exhibit in 2006