Matthew Laflin Memorial Building

This grand neo-classical building was built in 1893 to house the former Chicago Academy
of Sciences—the city’s first museum, founded in 1857. That institution’s first home was consumed by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Laflin, the subsequent building’s namesake, was a gunpowder tycoon and philanthropist whose donation spurred Chicago’s tradition of locating museums in lakefront parks. Make some history of your own by ushering guests past its Corinthian temple front into the shimmering marble lobby or stately Ann Milligan Gray Room for a museum-quality meeting or daytime event.

Capacity
120 theater
50 classroom
100 seated

Daytime Capacity
50 classroom
120 theater
130 seated