‘More important to do it right’: DuPage County hits pause on revamp of Heritage Gallery
Chairs and tables have replaced what was once the DuPage Heritage Gallery at the county’s administration building in Wheaton.
The gallery, and all its artifacts, were removed earlier this year after members of the county board’s public works committee paused the project, citing objections to a proposed design to replace the existing gallery. The committee is expected to revisit the topic later this year.
“For me and the committee, it’s more important to do it right than to do it fast just to say we did something,” said DuPage County Board member Michael Childress, who heads the public works committee.
He said all plans are in a “holding stage” until the county gets through its annual budget process.
“Once we get through the budget, then we’ll return our focus to the Heritage Gallery,” he said.
The county board budgeted $150,000 to reimagine the gallery that was inside the county government administration building, 421 N. County Farm Road.
To date, the county has spent $50,000 on expenses, including a design proposal ultimately not supported by the county.
Funding for the project is coming from the interest the county earned on its share of federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act.
The former gallery, which was installed in 1980 and rededicated in 2000 after an update, featured 11 white men and one white woman.
County officials have said the gallery did not reflect the diversity of residents who make up DuPage County.
“It hasn’t changed in 40 years,” DuPage County Board member Dawn DeSart, who also serves on the public works committee, said. “I just want to get something in there that reflects DuPage County.”
An initial design by Taylor Studios featured one-dimensional static signs that would have outlined the county’s history. The public works committee had not yet decided what people should be included in the display before hitting pause on the plans.
Childress, however, has suggested he would like to see Wheaton resident Bernard Kleina featured in the exhibit. Kleina is credited with taking some of the first color photographs of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
“He’s actually a jewel of DuPage County that nobody knows about,” Childress said.
DeSart has championed adding Ellen Martin, a Lombard attorney credited with being the first woman to vote in Illinois, to the exhibit. DeSart also would like to see representation of the “rich diversity of our county.”
The former Heritage Gallery, which was located in a first-floor atrium of the county administration building, included artifacts like a Bible from Billy Graham, a salt container for Morton Salt and Morton Arboretum founder Joy Morton, a costume for opera singer Sherrill Milnes, and a typewriter for Margaret Landon, author of “Anna and the King of Siam.”
All of the artifacts have been placed in storage. The county returned Milnes’ costume and boots to family members. Other artifacts will remain in storage for at least a year before determining what to do with the artifacts or if they will be lent to other museums.
County officials said the public works committee has yet to decide who will be featured in a new gallery and whether or not the gallery will remain named the “DuPage Heritage Gallery.”