Grant Park   

500 S Columbus Dr
Chicago, IL 60605
312-742-7529
www.chicagoparkdistrict.com

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The 300-plus acres of Grant Park are considered by many Chicago natives to be a gem on the Lake Michigan shoreline. And it may well be just that, but at this time last century, the park was inhabited by squatters, the city dump and rusty storage sheds. Public outcry changed the face of Chicago's Lake Michigan shoreline forever. Ordinance after ordinance was passed to restore the area and to protect it from industrial invasion. By 1901, about 10 years after things got underway to clean the place up, the park's name was changed from Lake Park to Grant Park. If you are wondering, yes, it's named after Ulysses S. Grant, a native of Illinois. The modern park grounds host soccer fields, volleyball courts, softball fields, tennis courts and ice skating at Daley Bicentennial Plaza (when it's frozen, of course). Performances at the Petrillo Music Shell include lots of free shows, sponsored by the Grant Park Music Festival. It's also home to the city's annual July 4th fireworks celebration. There are all sorts of diversions within the boundaries of the park, too. Visitors can dive into the Shedd Aquarium, ponder the Art Institute of Chicago, view the handsome Buckingham Fountain featuring 133 water jets, pop into the Field Museum of Natural History and/or see the stars at the Adler Planetarium. Summertime is perhaps the best time to visit Grant Park. The gardens are in bloom, the bike trails are open and the cool Lake breeze is refreshing. If you're lucky, one of the free music festivals will be going on. From the grand entrance flanked by 27,000 lb. bronze Native Americans on horseback to the Lincoln Statue and Museum Campus, Grant Park offers visitors and locals alike a respite from Chicago's legendary bustle, but not from its legendary winds! -- Carl Salminen