SCHAUMBURG, CHICAGO.-  Amanda Vogt, staff reporter for the Chicago Tribune wrote earlier this week that Schaumburg officials were surprised Tuesday to learn that the director of a museum that closed mysteriously in December is living in Galena, where he has opened another museum with the same name. Village officials have been trying to reach Christian Narkiewicz-Laine, director of the Chicago Athenaeum Museum, since the museum closed its doors without notice. Artworks were left outside the museum, exposed to the elements and potential theft, and dozens of lights were left on in offices.
"We are quite concerned about the long-term plans of the museum," said Christopher Huff, village planning director. Huff said mail the village has sent to the museum has been returned marked with a postal notice that the property has been vacated.
The Athenaeum, which moved to Schaumburg from Chicago in 1998, renewed its lease with the village in August for one year, according to Assistant Village Manager Brian Townsend. The museum leased the site in the heart of Town Square for $1, he said.
After relocating to Schaumburg, the 16-year-old non-profit museum--which features exhibitions on architecture, industrial and product design, graphics and urban planning--shut its Chicago location. That location was closed last year but remains listed on the Athenaeum Web site.
Huff said Schaumburg officials do not want to wait for the same fate to befall them.
"They owe us a straight answer," he said, adding that village officials have no alternative plans for the site.
Ioannis Karalias, Athenaeum’s vice president, said he returned from a three-month trip to Greece two weeks ago and was not aware the village was trying to contact museum officials.
Karalias said Monday that the Schaumburg location is not closing. He said the museum is scheduled to reopen April 3 with a revamped permanent collection of manufacturing designs dating to the 1800s. As of Tuesday, village officials had not been notified of the museum’s plans, Huff said. Karalias said he and his business partner were at times difficult to reach because "we’ve taken some time to deal with personal issues and to reorganize our collection."