Our Millennium Park Tour

[Tannerman]

After much discussion and hype about Chicago's Millennium Park (including passionate conversations in the TannerWorld Junction discussion forums), Amy and I decided to check out this new public space for ourselves.

Welcome to Millennium Park

The first thing you tend to see, once you get beyond the kinda lame Wrigley Square & Millennium Monument is the plaza areas facing Michigan Ave. During the winter, a very large ice rink sits here (it was actually open for business last winter). But during the summer, the rink becomes a seating area, packed with tables, vendors, and places to eat. There is a full-time high-end restaurant here, along with cheaper fast food options.

The Plaza: Food with a view

One major criticism of Millennium Park, and rightly so, is the load of corporate names attached to everything. As Amy and I walked through, it was interesting to stop and listen to what people were actually calling things. And sorry to say big business... they couldn't give a rip about your stupid corporate branding. Phrases like "the bean", "plaza", "face fountain", "winding bridge", and "great lawn" pretty much summed up what's in the park. And that's nice to see.

Overlooking the Plaza

The eating areas in the plaza (officially "McCormick Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink") were very busy, as it was a nice day, and I think a lot of people walked down to the park from the Air and Water Show. But just looking at the whole park in general... it was filled with people. They were having a good time, exploring new stuff, walking around, getting wet, and enjoying our overpriced new attraction here in the Windy City.

Crown Fountain

One of the more unique elements of the Park is the Crown Fountain, which will probably be known as "the faces that spit" fountain. Designed by Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa, the fountain is made up of two 50-foot high glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. The towers are activated with changing video images and lights, and water cascades from the top of each. It does a very effective job at drawing you into the Park as you are passing by on Michigan Ave.

Forecast: Summer showers!

Kids and families seem to love these fountains. Faces appear for about 13 minutes on each tower, supposedly reacting to each other. At the end of the cycle, the lips on the faces pucker up and a stream of water flows out. It's a pretty wacky concept, but I don't think people care. C'mon, it's fun in the water! The interactivity of this fountain is a pretty huge contrast to Chicago's other well-known water spout, Buckingham Fountain. There, you can't even get close to the action because of a railing. Here, you are part of the activity.

Skyline with fountain in distance

I really like the concept of the Crown Fountain. One has to wonder, however, about ongoing maintenance. For example, those faces are powered by thousands of little LEDs... eventually they'll start burning out and it will look pretty bad. Here's hoping a plan is in place to keep things updated. Actually, that was a concern of mine for most of the Park in general. Lots of cool stuff, but lots to maintain as visitors wear it down. It's really kinda like a theme park in regards to maintenance; it's just that our city maintenance folk don't exactly work for Disney.

What's your name?

As we headed out to another area of the park, we came across one change that has already taken place... the renaming of a corporate area. A series of wide public walkways was named the "Bank One Promenade". Of course, by the time the park actually opened, Bank One had been purchased by Chase. People wondered if the walkway would be renamed. It appears that it has.

Reflections of the city

Eventually we made it to what has become the most popular attraction in Millennium Park, the bean (officially known as "Cloud Gate on SBC Plaza"). Why such the attraction? Because this is simply the next generation of a house of mirrors that you used to find in old amusement parks. People like to see distortions of their images, at least that's my theory.

"Can't go over it, must go under..."

Put the mirrors outside and you are put into a state of awe as the reflection of city buildings creates a pretty impressive image. As you get close, however, you notice that the underside of the bean is somewhat hollow. In fact, it sorta forms a cone shape that does a number of reflections. The visitors here have a pretty fun time trying to figure out where they were in the reflection, which often flipped things on its axis and shrunk your image.

Looking up from under the bean
(White box denotes location of Steve and Amy)

Enlargement: Steve in orange, Amy in overalls

Probably the best part about the bean is that it's a great way to get a self-portrait when no one else is around to take your picture. I just hate to think about how many times they have to wipe this thing down to keep it clean. People like to touch it!

Bean: Self-portrait Wonderland

We moseyed on over to the Great Lawn, which is attached to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion... basically, it's where the concerts are. Remember what I said about on-going maintenance? Well, it's already begun...

More grass needed

(You can totally tell that paper sign was made with Microsoft Word by a person who was pretty clueless. Let's see... leave the default font as Times New Roman... check! Make sure the "Capitalize the first word of every sentence" feature is on... check! Center justify everything... check!)

The Great Lawn

The open space that make up the lawn and pavilion is pretty cool. At first when I saw pictures online, I thought that the arches holding lights and speakers would be detracting, but it actually makes the effect even more outstanding.

My dad works in that red building

The effect generates a false ceiling, which makes the setting more intimate. At the same time, while you feel like you are in an arena, the city skyline is right there towering over you. It's a cool feeling!

Seating for yourself and 3,999 close friends

Noted architect Frank Gehry designed the pavilion, which features 4,000 fixed seats and capacity for an additional 7,000 people on the lawn.

Amy and the canopy

The open-air "acoustical canopy" uses some sort of funky technology to deliver sound to people far from the stage without a delay or echo effect. Or so they say.

Left: The Smurfit-Stone Building
(Made famous in the 1987 film, Adventures in Babysitting)

Some critics have voiced concern over the back of the pavilion stage area, which sort of looks unfinished. Hey, anything is better than the way Solider Field looks! It's going to be interesting to see what the reactions are from folks who actually attend concerts here.

BP Bridge

After leaving the Great Lawn area, we took a walk over the BP Bridge, a winding walkway that takes you over Columbus Drive and connects with Daley Bicentennial Plaza. The bridge was also designed by Gehry. It takes a little while to walk over the road, as it winds so much.

Overlooking Columbus Drive

I heard a joke that the first time you walk over the bridge, it's nice. The second time, you are wondering why it's so long. The third time, you'll just cross Columbus at the light! My favorite part of the bridge isn't so much the metal outside or the winding shape, but the feeling that you are walking on a boardwalk. The woodwork is pretty nice.

Wildflowers at Lurie Garden

Our final stop was actually my favorite part of Millennium Park, namely because it wasn't popular, famous, or had a corporate name. This was the Lurie Garden, a collection of plants, landscaping, and water that created a relaxed, calm area. It features a combination of wildflowers, hedges, and trees.

The Boardwalk

The best part, however, is a hardwood walkway that follows a straight stream of water. Officially this pathway "separates the garden into the 'light plate' with 240 varieties of perennial plants and the 'dark plate,' which is shaded by flowering cherry trees." It actually reminded me a lot of the Japanese Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden... one of my favorite places to visit.

Overall, Amy and I were impressed with the Park. Having looked at it ahead of time with photos in the paper and on the 'net, I got the feeling that it was very cluttered. After all, it has quite a mix of things that don't click with each other. My initial impression was that the city just dumped too much stuff into one small area. However, after our visit, that impression changed. What the photos don't reveal is how tiered and multi-leveled the park is... and this really creates the feeling that you are in different areas. You are always finding new things up a hill or around a set of bushes. The landscapers did a fabulous job here.

So next time you get a chance, stop by Millennium Park for a visit. Just don't ask how much it cost to build! (It won't matter years from now anyway).

[TheProfessor101]

Originally Posted by Tannerman

...it's just that our city maintenance folk don't exactly work for Disney.

Or maybe they do and that's Disney's problem!