The Naperville Heritage Society, administrator of Naper Settlement, received a $749,700 grant from the Illinois Public Museum Capital Grants Program, funded through Gov. Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois multi-year state capital program. The grant awarded to the Naperville Heritage Society will go toward the development of Naper Settlement’s Ag Lab inside one of the museum’s proposed buildings, the Agricultural Interpretive Center.
In late 2020, The Illinois Public Museum Capital Grants Program, administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, awarded grants to 43 Illinois museums to upgrade facilities and create new exhibits. The Naperville Heritage Society’s received grant funds will go toward the Ag Lab, which will provide STEM-driven learning opportunities and allow students to get down and dirty in the science of farming and agriculture.
With an anticipated capacity to house 25-30 students at one time and 275-325 per day, the Ag Lab will serve as one of the four educational stops located in the larger capital project known as the Agricultural Interpretive Center. The Agricultural Interpretive Center is a new 6,000 square foot exhibit and programming space that will showcase Naperville’s rich agricultural history and connect it to the farming story of the region and the nation. Exhibits and programming will include STEM-based learning opportunities and explore agriculture across centuries.
Picture Source: Positively Naperville
