CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Ron Romero said the idea came to him four years ago.
"I've been a musician for 35 years. I've just sat in awe of all the people who've done it, who've made music and made a living out of it. I started watching who was out there and from Illinois," he recalled.
"There's great bands from the 60's, New Colony Six, The Buckinghams, Ides of March, 70's and 80's, Styx, Cheap Trick, Chicago of course. There's so much music."
Romero, who also heads Stage Right Productions, said he wants to bring all that history to one place.
"I had been to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and I really loved what they were doing there. In 2017, we were incorporated, our 501C3 and this year we got our building, which is downtown Joliet," he said.
The 15,000-square-foot building along Route 66 is just down the street from the historic Rialto Theater and across the street from The Forge.
"I was inspired by Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen's exhibit at Rockford's Burpee Museum. It was beautiful. He kept everything. The joke was that he even saved his fifth grade lunch ticket and he did," he laughed. "I just want to bring things that people will say, 'wow, you don't see that on the internet, I didn't know about that photo or that guitar.'"
But Romero said the facility will be more than just about Rock and Roll.
"We're hoping to raise $6 million. The plan right now is to open the first floor, get it up and running, and continue to build out the second and third floors. The first floor would be the jazz and the blues and the exhibit about Chess records, etc.," Romero said.
Romero is also looking for artifacts from musicians and super fans.
For more information about the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum or to donate, visit roadtorock.org.