The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) will conduct its inaugural state final event in the city of Peoria for the 2012-13 school year this Saturday, as Detweiller Park plays host to the 2012 IHSA Cross Country State Finals on November 3. The annual state meet will not be the only IHSA attraction in town, as the Peoria Riverfront Museum officially opened its doors on October 20.
One of the headline attractions of the sprawling museum campus is the
IHSA Peak Performance Center, which features exhibits highlighting the diversity of the nearly 40 sports and activities offered by the IHSA. The featured exhibits in the IHSA Peak Performance Center, which will change seasonally, allow visitors to try their hands at highly interactive components, including accessing an IHSA records database, watching clips of actual competitions and viewing high school artifacts from schools all over the state.
“The Peoria Riverfront Museum and IHSA Peak Performance Center are a tremendous benefit to the community,” added Hickman. “We are very proud of the finished product and feel that the IHSA Peak Performance Center reflects the positives of the IHSA mission in a way that will be incredibly entertaining and interactive for visitors.”
The IHSA Peak Performance Center encompasses more than 4,700 square feet within the Peoria Riverfront Museum, where a few of the current attractions include The Pitching Cage, Basketball Area, and Balance Test.
Visitors not looking to break a sweat will still find plenty of challenges, including
actual questions from IHSA Scholastic Bowl competitions, making split-second calls on a variety of officiating situations via video screens and music challenges that include identifying pitch, as well as creating your own music.
“Most of our state final events are conducted in the Bloomington and Peoria areas, so we certainly have an affinity for the city and were humbled that they considered a place for us in the museum,” added Hickman. “We jumped at the opportunity to be a part of it and expect that many of our fans and teams participating in IHSA events in Peoria will make the Riverfront Museum a part of their IHSA State Final experience.”
The IHSA currently conducts several state finals events in Peoria, including Boys Basketball, Boys Baseball, Cross Country, Softball, Chess, Speech-Individual Events and Scholastic Bowl.
The Peoria Riverfront Museum also includes a Planetarium and a Giant Screen Theater, as well as several other permanent and rotating exhibits.
Visit
www.PeoriaRiverFrontMuseum.org and the
IHSA Peak Performance Center page for more information, including hours and admission prices.