Retired General James Conway admits when he was presented with the idea of a Hoffman Estates museum to honor the more than 40 million veterans who have served in the American Armed Forces, he was skeptical.
“My first reaction was that this is ambitious,” said Conway, who served as the 34th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.
But within a few days of meeting with village officials and visiting the area where the museum is slated to be located — on nearly 200 acres at the northwest corner of Beverly Road and I-90 — he agreed to be board chairman for the National Veterans Museum.
“I came away very well-convinced. There's tremendous support there,” he said, adding that he feels this “is an idea whose time has come.”
National Veterans Museum President Joe Cantafio, who also serves as CEO of the Forgotten Heroes Foundation and entertains soldiers abroad and veterans at U.S. hospitals with his music, said the goal of the museum and attractions surrounding it is to “honor, educate and preserve.”
On a vacant parcel of land near the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, a group led by a musician-turned-financier-turned-fundraiser envisions an interactive museum that would, for the first time, honor veterans.
The plan, expected to cost about $350 million for the first of its four stages, started about seven years ago when Joe Cantafio – a musician who started performing concerts to raise funds for firefighters and U.S. troops – was approached by someone who runs other museums, commenting on how there isn’t one facility in the country that honors only veterans.
“It’s a shame,” said Cantafio, who decided to try to recruit members of the military, architects and designers to help him build such a place.
Cantafio said he started researching the idea and eventually set up a non-profit corporation last year, called National Veterans Museum, to help execute his plan to privately fund the mammoth project set in the northwest suburbs.
The National Veterans Museum Board of Directors is now focused on raising funds for the 325,000-square-foot museum, and hopes to later add an adjacent library, hotel and convention center, gardens, a cemetery and other features to fill more than 100 acres of now-vacant land on Beverly Road between Stone and Sears parkways.
Cantafio said he also wants to build a “patriot village” that would house disabled veterans and their families, as well as an apartment complex for homeless veterans. That part of the project would not be located at the Hoffman Estates site, he said, but added there is no timeline identified beyond the initial museum phase of the project.
With their sights set on a 2016 grand opening for the museum, Cantafio and members of the board say they are confident they’ll reach their lofty fundraising goals. However the group remain mum on any support from large corporations or other significant donors.
“Do I think it’s going to be easy? No,” Cantafio said. “Do I think it’s going to be completed? Yes.”
Retired U.S. Army Lt. General Randall Rigby, who lives in Lake Barrington, serves as vice-chairman of the board and heads up a financial subcommittee.
“We hope to do this all without government contributions,” he said. “We think there’s a pretty good market out there. None of us are blinking at the challenge.”
To help raise funds, the board will soon embark on an advertising campaign, he said.
So far, board members say they’ve received positive feedback on the museum-portion of the project, and its location in Hoffman Estates.
Rigby noted the travel convenience of the Chicago area – how it’s centrally located in the country and easily accessed by O’Hare International Airport and Interstate 90.
Hoffman Estates Village President Bill McLeod said he met with Cantafio and others involved with the project and was excited by the prospect.
“We’d obviously love to have it in Hoffman Estates. It would put the community on the map,” he said, adding the draw would be good for the village’s bottom line, bringing in tourists and tax revenue.
Cantafio won’t say how close he is to buying the land, nor if he’s secured the funds for the purchase that would kick off the project.
Ryan Trottier, vice president of East Dundee-based Plote Homes, which has owned the parcel of land for decades, said his company has been in talks with Cantafio and the National Veterans Museum board.
“We’re working in good faith with them,” he said. “We’re moving toward an agreement for them to purchase the land from us. They’ve showed us that they have a very impressive project team and a very impressive board of directors.”
Trottier wouldn’t say if the parties have worked out a price, but said there was no formal agreement as of late last week. He added he anticipates an agreement in the “coming months.”
Board members said they plan to meet in the Hoffman Estates-area later this month, and have already hired banks to manage funds, a designer, an architect and others who will work on the project.
Retired U.S. Marine Gen. Jim Conway serves as chairman of the board of directors for the group.
“The thought is golden,” he said of the project. “One of the great things about this museum is that it’s not static. It’s not just passive in its design.”
Conway said he realizes what a massive feat building a museum is after watching the planning and lengthy fundraising that went into building the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Virginia.
“After hearing figures tossed around for just the first phase, I thought, how are we going to do that?” he said.
But after learning more about the plan and meeting with Cantafio and others involved, Conway said he developed confidence in the project, and in the desire of citizens.
“There’s a love affair taking place right now between the citizens of this country and their veterans,” he said. “We’re hoping to capitalize on that.”
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