Suburban Chicago museum in forest preserve to reopen

LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. – A suburban Chicago museum located in a forest preserve is reopening Saturday with free admission to mark the day.

Officials with the Bess Bower Dunn Museum in Libertyville say there’ll be limited capacity, limited hours, timed entry tickets and other safety precautions to help limit the spread of COVID-19.

“We have made several modifications throughout the galleries and gift shop to minimize touch points and support social distancing,” said Nan Buckardt, said the museum’s director of education.

The museum, operated by the Lake County Forest Preserves, features a prehistoric exhibit about dinosaurs that lived in Lake County and a fossil rock estimated to be 420 million years old. There’s also an exhibit on early settlers to the region, which includes the county’s role in the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad.

The facility is named for the county’s official historian.