STREETERVILLE — A vote to raise the Field Museum's admission fees was tabled to next month by parks officials, some of whom felt the proposed increase weighed too heavily on Chicagoans.
The proposal, which was tabled Wednesday by the Park District Board of Commissioners, would have raised admission at the Field for adult Chicagoans to $17, from $13. Chicago seniors and students would have paid $11, from $10; and to $9, from $8, for children ages three to 11.
Jim Croft, the Field's chief financial officer, told the park board Wednesday that the museum proposed raising the fees after "painful cuts" two years ago that slashed the Field's budget by six percent. The Field otherwise has a plan to raise revenue by $5 million annually over the next five years, and just started a campaign to raise $100 million from private donors for its endowment. The museum employs 471, including scientists who conduct research behind closed doors.
The proposed increase was projected to increase the Field's annual revenue by $800,000, Croft said.
"We’ve done this without any major modifications to the program, either scientific or public programming," Croft said. "We feel this approval of the admission rate increase will help us move that plan forward."
But Park Board commissioners felt too much of the increase would be levied against Chicagoans, who already subsidize the museum, which sits on public park land. Non-residents, who make up the vast majority of Field visitors, would have paid $2 more across the board.
"If you can demonstrate that by increasing non-resident admission, there would be a decline in attendance, that makes it a lot more palatable," Commissioner Tim King said.
"We understand your goals, we respect it. There’s just some discomfort with the balance that you presented here today," Park Board President Bryan Traubert told Croft.
So by next month's meeting the Field will recalculate how to raise $800,000 more in annual admission revenue by placing more of the burden on non-Chicagoans. Admission for non-residents was just raised last year, to $18 for adults, and admission for Chicagoans was last raised in 2010. About 1.2 million people visit the Field annually, and about half of them actually pay admission.
"We’re trying to make an effort to keep the price at a level that will be drawing visitors," Croft said.
The park board, which in June approved admission increases at the Art Institute, controls the Field's admission charges because the museum sits on park land.
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