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Short Takes

Museums & Attractions

  • The Renzo Piano Modern Wing will open in May at Chicago’s The Art Institute. The new 264,000-square-foot wing, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano will house the Art Institute’s collections of 20th century European painting and sculpture, contemporary art, architecture and design, and photography on three floors of galleries. The $300 million project also features an outdoor sculpture terrace, a garden courtyard and a 600-foot-long pedestrian bridge linking the museum directly to Millennium Park. For more information, call 312.443.3600 or visit www.artic.edu.

  • In Skokie, the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center will debut in April. The museum will house photographs, artifacts, rare documents and video testimonies from Midwest Holocaust survivors, recorded by Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation. The new 65,000-square-foot, three-story museum was designed by Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman and will likely be the last major Holocaust museum built in collaboration with Holocaust survivors. Its April 19 opening coincides with the anniversary of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising. For more information, call 847.967.4800 or visit www.ilholocaustmuseum.org.

Programs & Packages
  • The Chateau on the Lake Resort, Spa & Convention Center, in Branson, Mo., is offering three new meeting packages. The Chateau Executive Meeting Package features breakfast, lunch and a cookies and brownies break. The Stress Free package includes breakfast, lunch, a spa break and a stress relief seminar conducted by a Spa Chateau therapist who will teach the group various stress management techniques, such as meditation, massage and stretching. Wii Meet includes breakfast and lunch as well as a Wii break for the group with use of a 50-inch plasma television and a Nintendo Wii console with a choice of interactive bowling, fishing or golf for up to two hours. Packages are available through Dec. 20. For more information, call 417.334.1161 or visit www.chateauonthelake.com.

Kudos
  • Hotel Allegro, Hotel Burnham and Hotel Monaco Chicago, the Chicago Kimpton boutique hotels, received Green Seal certification for its environmentally responsible pactices. The Chicago Kimpton hotels began their pursuit of Green Seal certification in 2007 as part of the City of Chicago’s Climate Action Plan and the Green Hotels Initiative, a collaborative effort to secure Green Seal certifications for more hotels in Chicago than any other city in the nation. These three are the first hotels in the Kimpton collection to receive Green Seal certification. For more information, call 800.546.7866 or visit www.kimptonhotels.com, or visit the Green Seal website at www.greenseal.org.