May 25, 2011 – Workers are still finishing some interiors, and many rooms will wait for a tenant or sponsor to build out, but the Museum of Broadcast Communications – at State & Kinzie next door to Marina City – is ready enough for its employees to move in.

“We just moved into our new offices at the museum this week,” said museum executive producer Marc Glick on Wednesday, “so we truly are neighbors now.”

An “open house” next month will help the museum raise money. Tickets will cost $150. According to a flyer promoting the event, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Governor Pat Quinn, and the president of the Illinois Senate, John Cullerton, will be there. It is scheduled for June 16 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

(Above) Comedian Jack Benny is among television performers from Chicago depicted in new windows on the Kinzie side of the museum.

According to MBC president Bruce DuMont, the museum did make a deadline by the State of Illinois to finish basic interior work and landscaping. The museum had been given a 30-day extension on an original April 30 deadline due to cold weather.

Meanwhile, the large door that was for many years part of the Oprah Winfrey set is on display at the museum through July 15. It can be seen in the lobby off State Street on weekdays from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The door was donated to the museum in 2004 after the set was redesigned.

 Website: The Museum of Broadcast Communications