The West Chicago City Museum relocated to Gallery 200 and 200 Main Street in March 2026 as its historic building undergoes major restoration.

Turner Town Hall, which houses the City Museum, is currently undergoing a temporary closure for approximately a year for renovations. These improvements are vital to the building’s structural integrity and its maintenance as a national landmark. The renovation work includes restoring the exterior masonry, installing a new roof, replacing the HVAC system, and updating selected doors and windows.

“The only thing is that our Turner Town Hall, the building that is on the National Register, which means it’s one of only two buildings in all of West Chicago that has that national landmark designation, which means that it’s a really important historic building,” Sara Phalen, City Museum Director, said. “So we’re really grateful that the city is putting money into doing this work on the building.”

Even with the ongoing work at the Turner Town Hall, the City Museum will stay open, utilizing its temporary exhibition spaces. The museum plans to proceed with its normal schedule of activities, including walking tours, community gatherings, and school visits. Most of the museum’s artifacts and exhibits will remain on view. However, visitors may also request to view specific artifacts, which the staff will then make available.

“So we’ll be out in the community doing a lot more programming – like we always go to the schools and do things like that,” Phalen said. “We anticipate we will do more of that.” 

Phalen said that the City Museum will offer more walking tours and that the train depot behind the museum will likely be open more often in the coming year. 

“We hope that there’ll be different ways to interact with the City Museum and our history,” Phalen said.