Hello from Chicago - A Personal Tour of the Chicago Cultural
Center
Yesterday, after our lovely Austrian breakfast we went downtown
to the Chicago Cultural Center, the main downtown information
hub for tourists, to ask some questions about the Pullman
Historic District, a planned industrial community, built in the
1880s by industrial magnate George Pullman, creator of the
famous Pullman sleeper cars. We figured this would be an
interesting place to visit since it brings together
architecture, social and industrial history, and it would really
give us insight into one of the most interesting personalities
of Chicago's history.
To get more information about this neighbourhood we talked to
one of the volunteer greeters who staff the Chicago Cultural
Center and offer their local expertise to visitors free of
charge. The Chicago Greeter program today offers 150 greeters
speaking 20 languages and the Greeter program is one of the best
ways of getting to know the city through the eyes of a local
resident.
As a matter of fact, I had registered electronically for a
Chicago Greeter Tour prior to my departure, but something had
gone wrong with my registration and as a result I was not
assigned a greeter. The good thing is that the City of Chicago
also offers "InstaGreeters" - local volunteers / experts who
take people on downtown walking tours without the necessity of a
prior registration.
This is how we happened upon our very own personal InstaGreeter
tour: Chicago Greeter and local expert Don talked to us a bit
about the Pullman Historic District, but the more we talked, and
the more he saw that we were really interested, he asked us
whether we wanted a 20 minute tour of the Chicago Cultural
Center. Considering that this is a Chicago landmark we readily
agreed.
The Chicago Cultural Center was originally dedicated in 1897 as
the city's original Public Library. It is an impressive
limestone-faced building with intricate details, marble
staircases, patterned ceilings, beautiful floor mosaics and two
impressive stained glass domes. The cupola on the south side of
the building is the world's largest Tiffany stained-glass dome.
Today the Cultural Center houses one of the city's Visitor
Information Centers , various galleries, exhibition and meeting
spaces, the Landmark Chicago Gallery which displays photographs
from the permanent collection of Chicago landmarks, the 294-seat
Claudia Cassidy Theater as well as the Studio Theater and
various other facilities. You can even get married inside the
Chicago Cultural Center.
Designed in the beaux-arts style by the Boston firm Shepley,
Rutan and Coolidge, the Chicago Cultural Center was completed in
1897 and dedicated as the city's original Chicago Public
Library. Completed at a cost of nearly $2 million, this
remarkable monument was inspired by the neo-classical style of
the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893.
To start off, Don told us that the name of the city of Chicago
is an Indian word for "stinky onion swamp". He also explained
that Chicago is a city of superlatives: 3 of the world's 10
highest buildings are located here. Chicago is also widely
considered to be the birthplace of modern architecture and a
living museum of architecture, showcasing some of the world's
most famous architects including Frank Lloyd Wright, Daniel
Burnham, Louis Sullivan, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Gehry.
Chicago likes to do everything big. The world's largest public
library is located here: the Harold Washington Library Center
houses 2 million books. Chicago is also home to the largest
building in the United States (excluding the Pentagon): the
Merchandise Mart has 90 acres of floor space, housed in an Art
Deco landmark. Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park is one of the
world's largest fountains. Chicago also has the only river in
the world that flows backwards. Engineers reversed the Chicago
River in 1900 for sanitary purposes. Here's another interesting
fact: Chicago also has the largest Polish population outside of
Warsaw.
Our local expert Don took us through the building and showed us
the two stained glass domes, the exhibit halls, the photo
collection of Chicago landmarks, and to keep going along the
line of superlatives, Don gave us a brief synopsis of Millennium
Park, located right across Michigan Avenue from the Chicago
Cultural Center. The idea for Millennium Park was conceived by
famous mayor Richard M. Daley, and with the help of private
sector donations Millennium Park has become one of the most
impressive outdoor venues anywhere. The project cost $495
million, of which $220 million were financed privately.
Our Chicago Greeter Don, a former vice-president at Motorola, is
very knowledgeable about the history of Chicago and very
passionate about his city. His pride in his city is obvious, and
there is a lot to be proud of. For me, Chicago's waterfront
including Grant Park, the lakefront trail and its beaches are
some of the most awesome features of this city. In total Chicago
has more than 7300 acres of parkland, 552 parks, 33 beaches,
nine museums, two world-class conservatories, 16 historic
lagoons, 10 bird and wildlife gardens, and it's not surprising
that Chicago has won numerous awards including "Best City in the
World" and other accolades.
With Don's help we got a great overview of the Cultural Center
and a bit of insight into Chicago's interesting history. It was
the perfect preparation for our tour of the Pullman Historic
District, an industrial community created by George Pullman, an
industrial despot, yet a foresightful social entrepreneur who,
according to Don, was universally despised.
Armed with a bit of background knowledge we were looking forward
to our exploration of Pullman's social experiment.