| Millennium Park |
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| buildings and structures celebrating the third millennium | |
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| 2004 establishments | |
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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. Daley 's ambitious idea to realize that which was originally designed as part of Daniel Burnham 's ''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 a portion of the larger Grant Park, the "front lawn" of downtown Chicago and 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-renowned architect 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 Zollhof in Düsseldorf and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles . Characteristic of Gehry, the Pritzker Pavilion consists of massive panels of stainless steel resembling the graceful blooming of a flower or the unfurling sails of a massive ship. The Pritzker Pavilion is the home of the Grant Park Music Festival, the nation's only remaining free, municipally-supported, outdoor, classical music series. The Festival is presented by the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Departement of Cultural Affairs. (Source: www.grantparkmusicfestival.com) Winding eastward from Pritzker Pavilion is the only bridge in the world designed by Frank Gehry. The 925 foot pedestrian bridge, made of the same steel as the bandshell with a hardwood deck, winds like a fluttering ribbon across nearby Columbus Drive, from the bandshell to a section of Grant Park along the lakefront. 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-renowned artist Anish Kapoor and is the first of his public art in the United States. Cloud Gate is a highly-polished reflective steel sculpture which is meant to resemble a drop of liquid mercury hovering at the point of landing on a plaza of the park. The curved, mirror-like surface of the sculpture provides striking reflections of visitors, the city, and the sky; since its installation, it has become one of the most popular sculptures in the city. Crown Fountain Crown Fountain, designed by Catalan conceptual artist Jaume Plensa , is the first of its kind in the world. Transparent glass block 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 videos of the faces of nearly 1000 individual Chicagoans and showcases the vast diversity of the city while a stream of water cascades over the images. Playing on the theme of historical fountains based around Gargoyles with water coming through the opened mouth of the creature, each video includes specific moments where the person opens his or her mouth and specialized nozzles spray water into the center of the pond. 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. During development and construction of the park, many structures were added, redesigned or modified. These changes often resulted in budget increases. 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 eventually spiraled to $60.3 million. CRITICISM AND CONTROVERSY The Millennium Park project has been the subject of some criticism since its inception. In addition to concerns about the cost overruns, individuals and organizations have complained that the money spent on the park might have gone to other worthy causes, specifically citing ongoing issues with poverty in Chicago and problems within the city's schools. Although the park's design and architectural elements have won wide praise, some criticism of the aesthetics of the park has been noted. Other criticism has revolved around the larger issue of corruption and political favortism in the city; for example a July 2004 '' New York Times '' article {Link without Title} reported that an inflated contract for park cleanup had gone to a company that made large contributions to Mayor Daley's election campaign. Concerns have also been raised over the use of mixed taxpayer and corporate funding and associated naming rights for sections of the park. While a large monument in the northwest corner of the park honors the many private and corporate donors who contributed to its construction, entire squares and plazas within the park are named for their corporate underwriters, with the sponsors' names prominently indicated with stone markers (Boeing Gallery, Exelon Pavilion, SBC Plaza, Wrigley Square); some critics have deemed this to be inappropriate for a public space. The park curfew and obvious presence of security guards is also cited in some quarters as working against the idea of a public park. A controversy arose when the park enforced a requirement for professional photographers to obtain a paid permit to photograph the artwork in the park for commercial purposes. In doing so, the city cited the Copyright s of the artists who created the works (particularly the popular ''Cloud Gate'' sculpture), which give the artists sole right to profit from their work. However, enforcement of the permit requirement was inconsistent and sometimes heavy-handed, resulting in some non-commercial photographers and tourists being accosted while taking pictures of the sculpture, and leading to a public perception that they are banned from taking pictures of the park they helped pay for (as noted above, though, copyright applies to images taken, not for personal use, but only for commercial purposes). SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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