A new civic park featuring world-class public art and performance venues
Chicago’s Millennium Park is a 24.5-acre lakefront park with performance venues, open space, and public art catalyzing significant economic growth downtown. The park includes 12 art and architecture installations (some permanent, others rotating) and multiple theaters and stages and offers over 500 free cultural programs each year. Together these elements, along with the draw of open green space and access to the waterfront, attract over 15 million visitors to the park annually. Parking is available in two multi-level parking lots beneath the park, which replaced the unsightly old parking lot and rail lines formerly on the site to become the world’s largest “green roof.”
As ‘the world’s largest green roof,’ Millennium Park has become Chicago’s new ‘living room,’ a destination for locals and visitors from around the world.
2009 Selection Committee
The $475 million project has sparked community and economic growth, marking a significant increase in tourism and boosting real estate values and residential and commercial development. Its public art installations include commissions from world-renowned artists, and an architectural pedestrian bridge over a highway gives visitors easy, safe access to the park. The park has become synonymous with Chicago’s identity and serves as a model for other cities.