Museum of Ice Cream to Open Chicago Location with Speakeasy, More
Ice Cream, Chicago and selfies: arguably three of the best things the modern era has to offer. What do you
Ivy Griffith
Ice Cream, Chicago and selfies: arguably three of the best things the modern era has to offer. What do you get when you put them together? The Museum of Ice Cream, opening a new location in the Windy City. The MOIC is more than a place to indulge your love of the cold sweet confection, and both Chicago locals and visitors will have a lot to enjoy at the new location.
MOIC Comes to Chicago
It’s official, the Museum of Ice Cream is opening a location in Chicago, in the Summer of 2022. The unique location will span 13,544 square feet of space in The Shops at Tribune Tower according to lessors CIM Group and Golub & Company . Included in the space will be retail and entertainment, along with a cafe and bar. But what kind of entertainment can you get from the MOIC in Chicago?
The answer: a lot. The Chicago location will include:
- Speakeasy: A 3,500 square foot throwback for guests to kick back and indulge in some cocktails, dining, and sweet treats.
- Sprink-L: Guests will enter the museum through a Chicago-inspired CTA “L”, and will ride a Pink Line into the Speakeasy.
- Putt Putt: This mini-golf course is of course dessert-themed, and boasts a bright pink Chicago dog ice cream novelty.
- MoMi: Included at MOIC is the Museum of Modern Ice Cream which will encompass historic memorabilia in an interactive exhibit.
- Sprinkle Pool: A true dream for some visitors, the Sprinkle Pool allows you to dive into the sweetness and enjoy something absolutely ludicrous and positively wonderful.
A press release for the opening shares, “The whimsical installations, imaginative tours, themed retail, and more are designed under the premise that ice cream is a symbol of joy, a universal connector and a transportive vehicle for anyone’s imagination.
MOIC Chicago will serve up a playground of boundless creativity and bring to life the delightful dreams of the ice cream obsessed with 14 dessert-inspired installations. Guests will enjoy five unique ice cream treats as they are guided through the 60 to 90-minute experience by talented #TeamMOIC performers.”
Per the press release, “‘Museum of Ice Cream has been wildly popular and successful throughout so many cities and I am thrilled to see it coming to Chicago,’ said Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. ‘We’re constantly seeking ways to bring residents and visitors back to our Mag Mile, and this installation will certainly support that goal. I look forward to seeing how this museum will not only become an economic driver on Michigan Avenue but bring creativity and delight to residents and tourists alike.’”
Museum of Ice Cream Around the World
The Chicago location won’t be alone, it’s joining a family of MOIC locations around the world. The company currently maintains locations in New York, NY, Austin, TX, and Singapore. There was a San Francisco location, but it closed last year. Each location has its own unique footprint:
- New York City: The location’s website shares, “Taste, play, dance, connect, imagine, slide and swim as you explore our world famous 13 multi-sensory installations over 3 floors and 20,000 square feet! Our unforgettable #TeamMOIC guides will entertain and delight as you journey through MOIC, serving up as many sweet treats as you want along the way in our special NYC experience!At both our family-friendly Daytime experience and all new Night at the Museum experience (16+ recommended), let your imagination run free in a world where anything is possible.”
- Austin: The Texas location offers much the same as it’s New York Counterpart, but with 12 multi-sensory exhibitions and a standalone destination.
- Singapore: This destination offers 14 exhibitions and a large campus for guests to frolic across. The Singaore location has the biggest Sprinkle Pool in the family, and that alone may be worth the flight.
History of the MOIC
But how did the Museum of Ice Cream come to be? It would be more accurate to call it an “experium,” a word founders Maryellis Bunn and Manish Vora find to be more appropriate than museum. The New York location was the first, and it was designed to be a fully immersive, multi-sensory delight. A playground for adults and kids alike to indulge their whimsy and to find endless opportunities to play and snap selfies.
The press release for the Chicago location shares the museum’s path: “Museum of Ice Cream first kickstarted the experiential movement into high gear in 2016 with its New York pop-up, establishing itself immediately as a playground of boundless creativity for the ice cream obsessed and selling out quickly with a growing waitlist of 200,000 guests. It has since become a cultural phenomenon, creating a new type of experience called ‘experiums”, and selling out stints in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Austin, and Singapore. Jimmy Kimmel deemed it as the ‘Hamilton of Museums’, and the Smithsonian ranked Museum of Ice Cream in its top 10 most Instagrammed museums in the world. Hundreds of celebrities, such as David Beckham, Stephen Curry, Ryan Reynolds, Katy Perry,
Beyoncé, and the Kardashians are fans.”
It’s the perfect place to escape the Summer heat, or to put away thoughts of a dreary winter. With the new location opening in less than a year, Chicagoans will have a wonderful place of whimsy and fun just around the corner.