Peoria Riverfront Museum, Interactive museum in downtown Peoria, United States.
The Peoria Riverfront Museum is a non-profit museum of art, science, history and achievement on the Illinois River in downtown Peoria, Illinois. Its 87,000 sq ft building, opened in 2012, holds five major galleries and more than 30 smaller display spaces, a 40 ft Digistar 7 dome planetarium and a Giant Screen Theater with a 70 ft screen.
The Peoria Riverfront Museum opened on October 20, 2012 in an 87,000 sq ft building designed by Dewberry, succeeding the Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences founded by private citizens in 1965 in Lakeview Park. Lakeview's collections, trustees and staff formed the core of the new institution. Funding came from private donors, city-donated land and a Peoria County tax referendum backed by a supplemental sales tax; the county owns the building and leases it to the museum.
The museum displays artworks, natural science objects, and historical pieces tied to the Peoria region. Visitors can see local crafts and everyday objects that show how life in the area has changed over generations.
The museum is on the riverfront in central Peoria and can be reached on foot from many parts of downtown. Inside, the galleries are clearly laid out, so it is easy to move between the different sections at your own pace.
The museum serves as the sun in a scale model of the solar system that spreads across the Peoria region, with each planet placed at a different location around the city. Visiting all the planets means traveling a route that mirrors the true proportions of the solar system.
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