Public Grand Opening2

Public Grand Opening
Sunday, April 19, 2009

Public Grand Opening >

View videos from President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Israeli President Shimon Peres honoring the museum opening.  Online now >

View pictures online >

Watch for the full video coming soon >

Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center is honored to announce that President Bill Clinton will be the featured speaker at the Public Grand Opening on Sunday, April 19, 2009 in Skokie, Illinois. President Clinton will join special guest Elie Wiesel, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, foreign dignitaries, and Holocaust survivors and several thousand members of the general public as the new museum officially opens its doors for the first time.

Likely the last major Holocaust museum to be built in collaboration with survivors, the new Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center will be the largest institution in the Midwest dedicated to preserving the memories of those lost in the Holocaust and teaching current generations to fight hatred, indifference and genocide in today's world.

Tickets >

Tickets are no longer available for the opening event on April 19. If you requested your tickets on or before April 6, you will receive your tickets for the public grand opening featuring President Clinton in the mail during the week of April 13.

Thank you for your interest in the opening of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center. We hope you will visit the Museum at a later date.

Parking Information >

Free parking for the public grand opening of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center on April 19 will be available in seven nearby lots. Free shuttle service for individuals with a valid event ticket will be provided from all parking lots to the Museum beginning at 9 a.m. until midnight. Handicap accessible shuttle service will be available. We encourage all event attendees to carpool.
We anticipate increased traffic on April 19. As a result, we encourage you to carpool and consider alternative routes provided on the back of this insert.

The Museum is located at 9603 Woods Drive in Skokie (Golf Road and the Edens Expressway).

There will be NO parking available at the Museum on April 19.

Parking Lot A

Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center, 34 Old Orchard Road, Skokie

Parking Lot B

Citibank Building, 9933 N Lawler, Skokie

Parking Lot C

Niles North High School, 9800 N Lawler, Skokie

Parking Lot D

Illinois Science and Technology Park, 4901 Searle Parkway, Skokie

Parking Lot E

Loyola Academy, 1100 Laramie, Wilmette

Parking Lot F

New Trier High School, Northfield Campus, 7 Happ Road, Northfield

Parking Lot I

Forsythe Technology Inc., 7770 Frontage Road, Skokie

Plan your week with the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center >

Monday, April 20, 8:00 am - 1:00 pm at Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center
The Ethics of Dealing with Genocide: The Inaugural Symposium of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center Learn More >

Please join educators, thought leaders, journalists and students from across the Chicagoland region for a discussion about Media and Legal Perspectives on Genocide Awareness and Prevention at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center's Inaugural Symposium. With Keynote address by Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat. Register Online >

Tuesday, April 21, 7:00 pm at Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center
Remembering Lost Communities: Yom HaShoah Commemoration

Join the Rabbis and Cantors of Chicago's North Shore for this Holocaust Memorial in words and music. Before the memorial, view the new museum between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Please R.S.V.P. to Cheryl Swenson at NSS Beth-El, (847) 432-8900 x222 or cswenson@nssbethel.org.

Thursday, April 23, 6:30 pm
Conversation with Thomas Buergenthal

A Lucky Child, A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy is a heartbreakingly, moving memoir written by Thomas Buergenthal. He gives a detailed account of his life as a young boy of 10 held prisoners at Auschwitz. With luck and wit he managed to survive the ghetto of Kielce and two labor camps all the while miraculously experiencing a few wonders of childhood. Buergenthal will discuss his book with Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune's Jazz critic and author of The First and Final Nightmare of Sonia Reich. A book signing will follow. This program will be held in partnership with the McCormick Freedom Museum. Register Online >

Plan your trip for the Grand Opening >

The Doubletree Hotel & Conference Center-Chicago North Shore is the preferred hotel of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. The hotel offers the perfect combination of contemporary elegance and an ideal location less than a mile from the museum. In addition to free parking, the hotel will provide complimentary shuttle service to and from the museum during the grand opening. The museum has a set aside a block of rooms from Wednesday, April 15th through Wednesday, April 22nd.

To reserve the special grand opening weekend rate of $109 per night, click here >

The partnership between IHMEC and the Doubletree Hotel & Conference Center is featured at Marketwatch.com. Read now >

For additional lodging options, dining, transportation and activities on the North Shore, visit the Chicago’s North Shore Convention & Visitors Bureau.

• Become a Founding Memberof the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.
• View pictures of the museum construction process.