Millennium Park is just an amazing park to visit. When I was young, I used to visit this park with my family very often. I remember how beautiful I thought it was, how big the buildings were, and how much people visited the parks. I always wondered why it attracted so many people, and now I know why.
Chicago is such a great city. It is magnificent because of it skyscrapers, historical places and its grandiose parks. Once at Millennium Park, we had Tim talk to us about the history behind this area. In 1834 the Chicago River was not as it is today. Before, it was shaped in a weird way that was known as its sand bar which made it harder for people to enter. In 186 it was said that public ground was set to be ... " A common to remain forever open, clear and free of any building...". This meant that nothing could be constructed were Millennium Park stands. This was based on the ideology that parks should always remain open. I think this was a very good idea. This thought is what has made Chicago what it is today. Having open space is also important. Even though buildings are necessary for offices and hotels and all important necessities, open space makes the area look more alive by having people around.
As we go back into history we see that after the Chicago Fire, everything around Millennium Park was wiped out. In the 1870s a temporary structure was built in order to represent the advancement the city of Chicago had done after the fire. Later in the 1880s, this structure was turned into the Art Institute.
What I thought was very interesting was the grain elevators that used to be the highest skyscrapers at one point.
In the 1900 Grant Park opened. Grant Park because a busy place because of the cars that began taking over and the garages that were available for the cars. The first garage was available in 1854. I think garages are very useful, but they did not seem to be so beneficial in the areas that they used to be built on.
Later in the 1980s, Lake Shore Drive was renovated making it more "straight" as it used to be in an almost "zig - zag " structure, making it harder to drive and causing too much traffic. I did not know that Lake Shore Dr. once looked, so, weird, but now I think it has a beautiful view as you pass all along Lake Michigan.
A very interesting thing that I learned today was that the Illinois Central converted the railroad areas into parking spaces. In 1850, there was a contract that said that you could use this place for only railroad purposes but that did not happen. Later on this space was used to build parking space for Soldier Field parking.
Once at the park, we began talking about the importance behind the Crown Fountain. This fountain was designed according to the Crown family’s taste. This happened all because Mayor Daley did not want to fund the entire park as he knew it would be too much money to give away directly from the city's funds. In order to change this, Daley asked John Bryan from Sara Lee Corp. to help him raise money in order to constructs Millennium Park. At first, the plan was to raise $25 million, but Bryan raised up to $250 million. This was the chance to create an iconic symbol for the city of Chicago. Compared to other cities, Chicago lacked something special, and building this park would be the solution.
Many donations were given such as the Wrigley Corp. which gave $5 million, Harris family gave $20million for the Music and Dance Theater and the Crown family gave $10 million for the Crow fountain. Because of their donations, the families could do as they pleased with the areas, each designed their area however they wanted. I think this was fair enough. The Crown fountain holds 122 thousand small tiles. it weighs 10 lbs, it is 50 ft. high, 23 ft wide and 16 ft deep. The very interesting feature about this fountain is that it has 1,000 different faces of Chicagoans. Their faces appear on the fountain as water is being poured from the fountain.
It was amazing to hear that the engineer had to be careful when deciding how much water would fall and how strong the water current would hit the ground in case of causing any harm to children who would go under the water fountain to get.
The fountain’s main purpose was to be opened the 12 months. Even in the winter time this fountain functions by keeping the faces of the people, but no water. It is interesting because there are two exact fountains each facing each other. The idea behind the faces was to keep a conversation going between the people, or faces in the fountains.
What I found to be the best part about this fountain area is that it is a very multicultural area. This brings people from all over the city and all over the world together. Everyone gets to enjoy the beauty of art and architecture without any rules and regulations, just enjoy.
Another sculpture is the "Bean" or the Cloud gate. This is just a beautiful structure. Even though it weighs so much and it has been the most expensive sculpture costing 23 million dollars to have it built, it is magnificent. It is quite interesting to hear it being called Cloud Gate as it is the gate way to the sky and the clouds because of its unique reflections all around the "bean". This is my favorite part of Millennium Park!
I think that Chicago has definitely transformed over the years. It has been through so much in order to be what it is today. Even though the city has spent a ridiculous amount of money to have Chicago in such a great shape, it looks amazing. I just love Chicago!
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