Illinois Rock and Roll Museum to open later this year after first Hall of Fame induction

The Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66 in Joliet will open to the public later this year after it holds its first Hall of Fame ceremony on Aug. 31.

Inductees of the inaugural class are Buddy Guy, Chicago, Cheap Trick, REO Speedwagon, Muddy Waters, The Buckinghams, The Ides of March and longtime disc jockeys Dick Biondi and Larry Lujack.

The ceremony will be at the Rialto Square Theater in downtown Joliet along Route 66, reported the ABC-TV affiliate in Chicago.

The inaugural induction ceremony was scheduled for 2020 but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tickets are available from the museum’s website.

An official told me the museum would open later this year but didn’t have a firm timetable.

“The Museum is still undergoing renovation,” a museum official wrote on Facebook Messenger. “It will be a phased opening with floor 1 and the lower level opening late this year. And floors 2&3 opening afterwards. Its all dependent on funding through grants and sponsorships.”

The museum will be in a 1920s three-story building at 9 W. Cass St. in downtown Joliet, between the northbound and southbound lanes of Illinois 53, aka Route 66. The Joliet City Council last year gave the building landmark status due to its historic nature.

(Artist’s rendering of the front of the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum on Route 66 via Facebook)

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