Today's picture comes from Kenneth James.
It's Navy Pier.
According to the web site A View on Cities:
Navy Pier is a large pier on Lake michigan near Streeterville, close to Chicago's downtown. Originally known as the Municipal Pier nr 2, it is one of two piers called for in Daniel Burnham's 1909 Chicago plan. The other pier was never built.Construction started May 1914 and in 1916 it was opened to the public. At the time it was the world's largest pier, 292 ft wide and 3000ft long.
The pier was designed as a shipping and entertainment area. In its first decade, the Municipal Pier was successfully attracting both visitors and ships. It was also temporarily used as a military facility during the first world war.
By the end of the 1920s, the Navy Pier's success started to decline. The introduction of cars and the opening of movie theaters created more competition for the Pier. Shipping started to decline in the 1930s due to the depression and the competition of transportation by trucks.
In 1927 the pier was renamed Navy Pier in honor of World War I veterans. It would turn out to be a prophetic name change, as the Navy Pier served as a naval training facility during the second World War. After the war it served as the Chicago branch of the University of Illinois. In 1965 the university moved to its new location and the Navy Pier started to decay.
The first step in the redevelopment of the Navy Pier was the 1976 restoration by Jerome R. Butler, Jr. of the Auditorium building at the eastern end of the pier. One year later it was designated a Chicago Landmark. Another step to the redevelopment of the Navy Pier was taken in 1989, when the city of Chicago and the State of Illinois installed the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition authority.
At the same time they committed 150 million dollar for reconstruction of the pier as a recreational center. The renovation by Benjamin Thompson & associates started in 1992 and was completed in 1994. The result is a very successful recreational center next to Chicago's downtown area. With many attractions and 50 acres of parks and gardens It attracts more than 8 million visitors each year.
If you want to try to stump us, just send your photo to cltvdesk@tribune.com.
You PLEASE put "Stump Tim & Tonya" in the subject line. Make sure to include your name, where you're from and as much information as possible about the photo. Then watch CLTV to see if we use your photo.
