The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in Skokie is temporarily closing this summer for renovations but will offer a substitute by opening a temporary satellite museum downtown.
“Our attendance has grown dramatically since our early days as a museum,” CEO Bernard Cherkasov said. “In the last two years alone we’ve broken our single-day visitation record five times.”
The Skokie museum will close all exhibitions June 2 but will remain open for school groups and other by-reservation programming until the entire facility closes July 1 for construction.
The Skokie museum is slated to begin partially reopening in January of 2026.
Renovations will include a new lobby, a modern redesign of its auditorium and the creation of a reflection space within the museum’s core Holocaust exhibit.
“Instead of stretching out construction over years, we’re going to get it all done at once and reopen with an amazing world-class experience for our visitors,” Cherkasov said.
The museum’s footprint will not be expanded, but its 65,000 square feet will increase.
“We’re adding a floor,” Cherkasov said during a phone chat Friday.
According to a museum spokesperson, the second floor would expand the museum’s vertical footprint by nearly 700 square feet. The overall capacity in the auditorium will increase by 40%.
To accommodate visitors during construction, the museum will open a downtown satellite location at the former site of the Museum of Broadcast Communications at State and Kinzie Streets. The temporary space will open in July and remain open through June of 2026, showcasing new versions of some of the museum’s most popular exhibits including virtual reality, a holographic theater, a Holocaust timeline and more.
“By opening the downtown satellite museum, we hope to reach new audiences who haven’t had the opportunity to make it to Skokie,” Cherkasov said.
Museum officials noted that 2025 marks 80 years since the Holocaust ended. The Skokie museum opened in April of 2009 with former President Bill Clinton and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel in attendance.
Cherkasov couldn’t immediately provide a price tag for renovations or provide details on funding.