Quick Stop - The Navy Pier - Chicago Illinois

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• published: 24 Jan 2015
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Cost: $14 for parking. Navy Pier is a 3,300-foot-long (1,010 m) pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million. It was a part of the Plan of Chicago developed by architect and city planner Daniel Burnham and his associates. As Municipal Pier #2 (Municipal Pier #1 was never built), Navy Pier was planned and built to serve as a mixed-purpose piece of public infrastructure. Its primary purpose was as a cargo facility for lake freighters, and warehouses were built up and down the Pier. However, the Pier was also designed to provide docking space for passenger excursion steamers, and in the pre–air conditioning era parts of the Pier, especially its outermost tip, were designed to serve as cool places for public gathering and entertainment. The Pier even had its own tram. Today, the pier is one of the most visited attractions in the entire Midwestern United States and is Chicago's number one tourist attraction.[2] Fourth use: public gathering place Centerpiece attractions include a Ferris wheel,[8] an IMAX theater, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Amazing Chicago's Funhouse Maze, the Chicago Children's Museum, the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, and at the entrance to Navy Pier is a statue of Oak Park comedian Bob Newhart, sponsored by the TV Land network.[9] The Pier now features a large front lawn showcasing numerous larger-than-life public art sculptures and an interactive animated fountain created by WET (of Fountains of Bellagio fame). The Pier continues to be used as an embarkation point for tour and excursion boats and is a popular place to watch lakefront events, including the annual Air and Water airshow and the parade of lighted and decorated boats during Chicago's Venetian Night festival. The Pier and its grounds encompass more than 50 acres (200,000 m2) of parks, gardens, shops, restaurants and other shore entertainment. Navy Pier contains 170,000 total square feet of exhibition space, 50,000 square feet (5,000 m2) of reception space and 48,000 square feet (4,500 m2) of meeting room space. Attractions Navy Pier attractions include sightseeing tours from companies such as Seadog Ventures, Shoreline Sightseeing cruises and Water Taxi service, and the Tall Ship Windy. There are also dinner cruises by Entertainment Cruises, on their ships the Spirit of Chicago, The Odyssey II, and the Mystic Blue. The Pier has fireworks on Wednesday and Saturday nights during the summer and Saturday nights during the fall.[9] The popular Strictly Sail boat show and Chicago Flower and Garden Show are held at the Pier, as are many other fairs and expositions throughout the year. There are also seasonal festivals for Halloween and Christmas. The Chicago Children's Museum is a part of Navy Pier, with many different exhibits and activities for both children and adults to enjoy while visiting the museum.[9][10] The Pier also has an IMAX theater and the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, many of which were salvaged from Chicago mansions. An anchor from the naval vessel USS Chicago (CA-136/CG-11) is on display at the far end of the Pier[11] Pier Park Pier Park is a landscaped area outdoors on the upper deck, between the Crystal Gardens and the Pepsi Skyline Stage.[8] Attractions include the 150-foot (45.7 m) tall Navy Pier Ferris Wheel, which was manufactured by Vekoma[12] and opened on July 1, 1995.[13] It operates year-round, weather permitting, and has 40 gondolas, each seating up to 6 passengers. Its 40 spokes, spanning a diameter of 140 feet (42.7 m), are illuminated in the evenings.[8] The world record for the longest Ferris wheel ride was set by Clinton Shepherd, the park operations manager, who spent 48 hours, 8 minutes and 25 seconds riding the Pier's wheel over the weekend of May 18–19, 2013.[14] Other rides include a musical carousel, the Light Tower Ride, and Wave Swinger, an old-fashioned swinging thrill ride almost 40 feet (12 m) high.[8] Other Pier Park amusements include an 18-hole miniature golf course, and token-operated remote-control boats.[8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy_Pier http://navypier.com/ http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g35805-d142948-Reviews-Navy_Pier-Chicago_Illinois.html