Grant Parks beginnings dates back to 1835, when citizens, lakefront development, lobbied to protect the open space. As a result, the parks original area east of Michigan Avenue was designated public ground forever to remain vacant of buildings.
After the Great Fire of 1871, the area became a dump site for piles of charred rubble, the first of many landfill additions.
In 1901, the city transferred the park to the South Park Commission, which named it for Ulysses S. Grant,18th President of the United States.
Renowned architect Daniel H. Burnham envisioned Grant Park as a formal landscape with museums and civic buildings. However, construction was stalled by lawsuits to protect the parks open character.
Finally, in 1911, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Wards favor. New landfill at the parks southern border allowed construction of the Field Museum to begin, and the park evolved slowly.
Proudly referred to as Chicagos Front Yard, Grant Parks, today we saw Buckingham Fountain, the Art Institute of Chicago built in 1893 with its two bronze lions outside.
Buckingham Fountain was donated to the city by Kate Sturges Buckingham in memory of her brother, Clarence Buckingham, and was constructed at a cost of $750,000. built in 1927 to provide a monumental focal point while protecting the parks breathtaking lakefront views. The fountain operates seasonally, with water displays every 20 minutes and a light and water display in the evenings.
Grant Park is also home to baseball diamonds, tennis courts and breathtaking gardens which I remember being very colourful a few years back when we visited Chicago.
A bronze Abraham Lincoln statue was given to the city of Chicago by John Crerar, who left a $100,000 bequest in 1889 to construct a Lincoln statue. It took 12 years the seated figure, but it was not unveiled until 1926, more than 20 years later.
civic events. In 1911, it hosted the major Chicago International Aviation Meet. In 1968, it was the scene of clashes between Chicago Police and demonstrators during the Democratic National Convention. In 1979, Pope John Paul II delivered an outdoor mass to a large crowd in the park. The park was also the location for President Barack Obamas Election Day victory speech on the night of November 4, 2008.
The northwestern corner of Grant Park was renovated between 1998 and 2004 to Millennium Park, today we saw the area with artistic features including the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, The Crown Fountain (two tall LED lit towers)& The Cloud Gate or as the locals call in The Bean!
