Millennium Park
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Millennium Park was an idea of Richard M. Daley and is considered the most ambitious public architectural project for Chicago since the Columbian Exposition of 1893.
Pritzker Pavilion by Frank Gehry is the centerpiece of Millennium Park.
SBC Sculpture reflecting the skyline of Chicago at night
Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa features glass brick towers on a black granite plaza upon which an eighth of an inch layer of water cascades.
SBC Sculpture in daylight
Millennium Park Map
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:''For other uses of the name Millennium Park, go to the
disambiguation page.''
Millennium Park is a prominent new
civic center of the
City of Chicago in
Illinois and an important landmark of the city's
lakefront. A redeveloped section of
Grant Park, the 25 acre (101,000 m²) landmark is bounded by Michigan Avenue, East Randolph Street, Columbus Drive and East Monroe Drive. It was Mayor of Chicago
Richard M. Daleys ambitious idea to realize that which was originally designed as part of Daniel Burnhams
Plan of Chicago, a plan for the future of Chicago created in 1909.
Planning began in October 1996, construction began in June 1999 and it was finally completed in July 2004. Millennium Park was opened in a ceremony on
July 16, 2004 as part of a three-day celebration that included an inaugural concert by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus. 300,000 people took part in the grand opening festivities surpassing the 50,000 expected.
Features
Millennium Park is one of the largest public parks in
metropolitan Chicago and is a showcase for
postmodern architecture. It features the McCormick Tribune Ice Skating Rink, Peristyle at Wrigley Square, Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance, SBC Plaza, Lurie Garden, Bank One Promenade and Trees in Millennium Park. There are three major artistic highlights: Cloud Gate, Crown Fountain and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion.
Pritzker Pavilion
The principal signature of Millennium Plaza is the Pritzker Pavilion, a band shell designed by world-renown artist
Frank Gehry. A Pritzker Architecture Prize honoree and
National Medal of Arts winner, Gehry designed such landmarks as the
Guggenheim Museum at
Bilbao, Der Neue Zollhoff in
Düsseldorf and the
Walt Disney Concert Hall in
Los Angeles. Characteristic of Gehry, the Pritzker Pavilion consists of massive panels of steel resembling the graceful blooming of a flower or the unfurling sails of a massive ship.
Cloud Gate
SBC Plaza is home to Cloud Gate, a 3-story, 110-ton steel sculpture that has been dubbed by residents as
The Bean. The sculpture is the work of world-renown artist
Anish Kapoor and is the first of his art in the United States.
Crown Fountain
Crown Fountain, designed by
Catalan conceptual artist
Jaume Plensa, is the first of its kind in the world. Transparent glass bricks are used to build two 50-foot towers standing in the midst of a black granite plaza submerged under an eighth of an inch layer of water. Behind the glass bricks are
high-tech LED
video screens that when illuminated, scrolls through photographs of the faces of individual Chicagoans and showcases the vast diversity of the city while a stream of water cascades over the images. People are invited to walk on the water-covered granite plaza, creating the illusion of walking on water.
Budget
The project was known for its notorious delays (it was originally intended to open in 2000 instead of 2004) and tripled costs. This park, as stated by fundraiser John Bryan, would "be a monument to the very essence of the city of Chicago." It contains notable structures and
gardens built by some of the best
architects and
designers available, and has a
Frank Gehry-designed bandshell.
Many structures in the park were added, redesigned or modified. This resulted in budget increase. For example, the band shell's proposed budget was $10.8 million. When elaborate, cantilevered Gehry design required extra piling be driven into the bedrock to support the added weight, the cost spiraled to $60.3 million in the end.
| Project
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Proposed Cost
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Final Cost
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% of Proposed
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| Garage
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$87.5 million
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$105.6 million
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121%
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| Metra superstructure
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$43.0 million
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$60.6 million
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141%
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| Band shell
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$10.8 million
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$60.3 million
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558%
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| Music and Dance Theater
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$20.0 million
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$60.0 million
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300%
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| Park finishes/landscaping
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N/A
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$42.9 million
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| Design and management costs
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N/A
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$39.5 million
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| Endowment
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$10.0 million
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$25.0 million
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250%
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| Crown Fountain
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$15.0 million
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$17.0 million
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113%
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| BP Pedestrian Bridge
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$8.0 million
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$14.5 million
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181%
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| Lurie Garden
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$4.0-8.0 million
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$13.2 million
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330%-165%
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| SBC sculpture
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$6.0 million
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$11.5 million
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192%
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| Exelon Pavilions
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N/A
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$7.0 million
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| Peristyle/Wrigley Square
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$5.0 million
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$5.0 million
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100%
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| Bank One Promenade
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$6.0 million
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$4.0 million
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67%
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| McCormick Tribune ice rink
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$5.0 million
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$3.2 million
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64%
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| Misc. (fencing, terraces, graphics)
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N/A
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$1.6 million
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Resources
Category:Parks in Chicago