DAVENPORT, IOWA (May 15, 2025) — The Bix Museum is excited to announce their timeline for moving to their new home located in the City Square Building at 112 W 2nd St, Davenport, Iowa, and plans to make their organization a long-term fixture of downtown Davenport. The Bix Museum will be closing their doors in the Redstone building June 6th to begin deconstructing the exhibits.
Throughout June, the museum is moving the collection and rebuilding the exhibit in the new space on 2nd St. "Our goal is to re-open mid-July, with our grand opening Bix weekend, July 25 and 26, to welcome the tens of thousands of people who will be downtown for the yearly race bearing his namesake," said Nathaniel Kraft, Director of the museum.
The relocation is being made possible with the help of a Capital Campaign that has raised $90,000 of the $120,000 goal so far. This included both private donations and grants from the Regional Development Authority, the Scott County Regional Authority, and the Downtown Davenport Partnership. The Bix Museum is still accepting donations and are looking for volunteers who can help with activities like painting, moving the collection, and constructing the exhibits to assist with the move. Anyone who is interested in helping can contact Director Nathaniel Kraft at director@bixmuseum.org or visit the museum's website at bixmuseum.org/supportus
While historically a free museum, the Bix Museum will be moving to an admission price to help provide more stable funding for their operations. The new admission will be $8 for adults; $5 for seniors, students, and children five to seventeen; and FREE for museum members, military, veterans, and children under five. The museum will have group rates and special deals with partners available. The museum will continue to be free admission until they close after June 6.
After the Bix Museum settles into their new location, a project to transform the permanent exhibit with rotational exhibit space will begin. "The museum has consistently added new artifacts to the permanent collection each year since 2020," says Kraft, "a rotational gallery will provide the opportunity to show artifacts that don’t fit the main exhibit and better collaborate with like-minded organizations on joint projects in the future. We anticipate starting the project in Spring of 2026."
To learn more about the museum's plan and how to visit or help out, visit their site at bixmuseum.org.
About the Museum
The Bix Beiderbecke Museum opened to the public in 2017 in the lower level of the Common Chord building at 2nd and Main Street in downtown Davenport, Iowa. The museum is open Monday to Friday, 10AM-5PM; Saturday, 10AM-2PM; and by appointment on the weekends. The museum honors the life and music of Leon “Bix” Beiderbecke and features many original artifacts related to Beiderbecke and his colleagues The museum takes the visitor chronologically through the life of Bix. His jazz music is featured throughout the museum, along with videos, interactive displays, and photos. For more information, visit bixmuseum.org.
