Museum for enlisted sailors proposed in North Chicago

GREAT LAKES, Ill. (AP) - North Chicago could soon be home to the country's first museum dedicated to enlisted sailors.

The National Museum of the American Sailor Foundation is launching a $40 million fundraising campaign for a museum near Naval Station Great Lakes.

Ron Lanz, executive director for the foundation, said there are 10 other museums in the U.S. Navy system, but none of them are dedicated to the enlisted sailor, a category that represents 271,000 sailors out of 400,000. He said the National Museum of the American Sailor would be the only museum dedicated to sailors who have recently enrolled in the Navy.

"They don't have a museum dedicated to them, and they are the ones that do all the really, really hard work," Lanz said.

The proposed 40,000-square-foot museum would include multiple exhibit galleries, a performance auditorium, conference and meeting rooms, a cafe, a gift shop and other facilities.

Maureen Riedy, president of the Lake County Illinois Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the bureau already works with the Navy Morale, Welfare and Recreation facilities to promote local attractions to families that attend weekly graduation ceremonies for nearly 1,000 men and women after they complete nine weeks of basic training at Naval Station Great Lakes.

"I think it'll be a huge addition, and we should be really honored they selected Lake County for this museum," she said. "It's going to raise the profile of the Navy here. The fact that it is part of the U.S. Naval museum system will help attract a national audience, especially Navy veterans who will want to come and see the museum."

Naval History and Heritage Command estimates that the museum will draw between 375,000 and 450,000 visitors annually.

The foundation hopes to open the museum in late 2018.