A Textured Navy Pier
by Kathleen Scanlan
Title
A Textured Navy Pier
Artist
Kathleen Scanlan
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The Chicago lakefront is quite beautiful in all seasons. Navy Pier, which juts out from the land along Lake Shore Drive into the waters of Lake Michigan, is home to stores, restaurants, banquet halls, and boat rides. A huge ferris wheel dominates the skyline and attracts many visitors to the pier.
Built in 1916 by City Planner Daniel Burnham, the pier's original use was for lake freighters to drop their loads in the then warehouses along the pier. The 1920s brought people by car and transportation to the area and Navy pier became a gathering place due to its cool breezes across the lake on hot summer days. When the Great Depression hit in the 1930s and with the increase use of vehicles and trucks for delivering goods, freight and warehouse usage declined but cultural and recreational activities remained for the public to enjoy.
WWII caused the closing down of Navy Pier in 1941. The Navy took over the area and held training there until 1965 when the pier was returned to the City of Chicago ownership. In that year, the University of Chicago utilized the pier for returning veterans to attend a two year college program.
Since that time to today, the pier has metamorphosed into what it is today; A gathering place for visitors from all over the world who ride one of the biggest ferris wheels in the world, eat in some of the finest restaurants of Chicago, and take in a bit of shopping. Lake Michigan boat rides take them along the magnificent lakefront to view the beautify shoreline of the city.
Uploaded
February 14th, 2016
Embed
Share
Comments
There are no comments for A Textured Navy Pier. Click here to post the first comment.