For the first time ever next year, visitors to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry will be able to make their way from the balcony level to the main floor not only by stairway or elevator, but by spiral slide.
It will all be part of a new permanent exhibit, “Powering the Future,” which will explore how energy shapes day-to-day life and the world at large — and how energy will shape tomorrow.
“Powering the Future” is now under construction in the Griffin MSI’s south balcony. When it’s complete, visitors will be able get on a spiral slide that will take them from the balcony level all the way back down to the main level at the foot of the Coal Mine — the Griffin MSI’s oldest exhibit that dates back to the museum’s opening in 1933.
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The slide will serve multiple purposes, a Griffin MSI spokesperson wrote — “not only representing the transformation of potential energy to kinetic energy but connecting these two exhibits focused on different aspects of the energy industry.”
A smaller, one-level slide will also be set up on the balcony to provide a second option for guests of all ages, the spokesperson wrote.
“Powering the Future” will also feature a climbing structure, and an ice wall to explore the environmental impacts of energy, among other interactive features. Visitors will also get to explore the role of gas, electricity, and batteries in powering our world, and even build their own power grids.
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Visitors will get to learn about careers in the energy field and ways our society can develop a sustainable future. A spotlight on women working in the energy field will also be part of the exhibit.
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New exhibit will feature some old elements
The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry has always been at the cutting edge of teaching visitors about energy.
Longtime Griffin MSI visitors might remember the Energy Lab — which opened in the late 1970s and could be found for many years on the museum’s ground floor. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Energy Lab offered hands-on opportunities to learn about more than a dozen sources of energy, from coal and oil to solar power and the nuclear fuel cycle.
In its time, the Energy Lab was the most comprehensive energy exhibit in any major U.S. museum.
More recently, “Future Energy Chicago” — which closed in August 2022 — allowed visitors to crank a generator and power striking visual effects, feel the difference in energy demand in different types of light bulbs, and get on a stationary bike to transform potential energy into kinetic.
While those exhibits are gone, some of the elements you’ll find in “Powering the Future” may look familiar from past exhibits.
“In the name of sustainability, we have ‘recycled’ some popular favorites from earlier exhibits,” the Griffin MSI spokesperson wrote.
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A plasma tree sculptural display you might remember from “Future Energy Chicago” will be part of “Powering the Future.” A set of gears that illustrate the transformation of motion and a 1923 Milburn electric car date back from even earlier exhibitions, the spokesperson wrote.
In its space on the south balcony, “Powering the Future” will replace “Everyday Chemistry,” which has closed.
“Everyday Chemistry” is fondly remembered as a quirky and engaging exhibit that held court on the south balcony for decades — featuring a massive three-dimensional periodic table with samples of each element, a recording of Tom Lehrer’s “The Elements” song that played at the push of the button, and a film clip showing humorist Marshall Efron preparing a lemon cream pie using only sinister-sounding chemicals.
The Griffin MSI spokesperson said most of the elements — no pun intended — from “Everyday Chemistry” are off display for now. But the spokesperson noted that everything in the Griffin MSI’s collections may someday go back out on the floor for future exhibits.
In fact, one item from “Everyday Chemistry”— a 1930s model of a distillery — will be part of “Powering the Future” too.
The Exelon Foundation is the lead donor for “Powering the Future.” Nicor Gas and Invenergy are also contributing donors.
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“Powering the Future” will open at the Griffin MSI in early 2026, and will be included with general admission.
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