Museum of Broadcast Communications Receives $500,000 Donation From Disney

Museum of Broadcast Communications Receives $500,000 Donation From Disney

CHICAGO, Feb. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- DisneyHand, worldwide outreach for The Walt Disney Company, WLS-Channel 7, WLS-AM (890), WZZN-FM (94.7), WMVP-AM (1000) and WRDZ-AM (1300), has committed $500,000 in cash and public service air time to the Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC). The donation will support the development of the new Museum of Broadcast Communications in downtown Chicago, scheduled to open in 2006. Disney's support will ensure that the new MBC is a cultural destination and educational resource for Chicago's students.

The 70,000-square-foot facility will enable the MBC to accommodate an increased number of school groups and extend its educational outreach. The new facility will provide a range of educational spaces that are critical to the MBC's mission. These spaces include a media-equipped education center for orientation and teaching, a 500-seat center for screenings and lectures, interactive exhibits, and working television and radio studios.

"Our expansion plans will create a dynamic gateway for students throughout Chicago and the region to learn about how television and radio have influenced their lives and explore a variety of careers in broadcasting," said MBC President Bruce DuMont. "Visiting students will be able to participate in guided exhibition tours and hands-on workshops in the television and radio studios and access the Museum's media collection for research and study," DuMont added.

Emily Barr, president and general manager of WLS-Channel 7, said, "The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is a wonderful source of broadcast history right here in Chicago. We are delighted to help kick start this new chapter in the Museum's history."

The DisneyHand donation follows a recent $1 million donation from Paul and Angel Harvey, a $250,000 grant from The Oprah Winfrey Foundation, and a $250,000 grant from the Polk Bros. Foundation. The DisneyHand grant brings the total raised to $10.8 million of a $20 million campaign goal.

DisneyHand, worldwide outreach for The Walt Disney Company, is dedicated to making the dreams of families and children a reality through public service initiatives, community outreach and volunteerism in the areas of compassion, learning, the arts and the environment. For more information on DisneyHand, please visit http://www.disneyhand.com/ .

The Museum of Broadcast Communications is one of only three broadcast museums in the United States. Currently, it is building a new home at State and Kinzie streets in downtown Chicago. The new MBC will be energy efficient beyond the Chicago Energy Code and will be the first public museum in the nation to achieve the Gold rating of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria. For more information, please visit http://www.museum.tv/ .


Source: Museum of Broadcast Communications;

CONTACT: Raissa Allaire of MBC, +1-312-396-0104, or Bob Szafranski or
Sara Conley, both of PCI, +1-312-558-1770

Web site: http://www.disneyhand.com/
http://www.museum.tv/


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