millennium park tour

Date:

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Special Schedule for This Event:

8:00am – 8:45am – Networking and Presentation at The Chicago Cultural Center
8:45am – 9:45am – Millennium Park Tour

Did you know that Millennium Park, recipient of the 2009 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, was once an industrial wasteland? In fact, from the 1850s until 1997, the land that is now occupied by Millennium Park was controlled by the Illinois Central Railroad.  The area, which was covered with unsightly railroad tracks and parking lots, remained a blight on Chicago’s lakefront throughout the 20th century. That blight was replaced in July 2004 by a world-class public park that is among the top 10 tourist destinations in the U.S. Today, the 24.5-acre Millennium Park represents an unprecedented public-private partnership and has become a thoroughly modern achievement for Chicago in the tradition of its original founders.

Our morning will begin at the Chicago Cultural Center, a stunning landmark building, in the Millennium Park Room on the 5th floor, where Jamey Lundblad, Chief Marketing Officer, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and Matt Nielson, Deputy Commissioner for Facilities, DCASE, will discuss the Park and the challenges and successes in the process of developing that remarkable public-private partnership. Then, Matt will take us across the street to guide us in exploring the many unique aspects of Millennium Park, including a visit to Lurie Garden with Laura Ekasetya, Director of Lurie Garden.