Museum Campus
{{Short description|Park in Chicago, Illinois}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
File:KM 5866 shedd aquarium august 2007.jpg
Museum Campus is a {{convert|57|acre|adj=on}} park in Chicago along Lake Michigan. It encompasses five of the city's major attractions: the Adler Planetarium, America's first planetarium; the Shedd Aquarium; the Field Museum of Natural History; Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League; and the Lakeside Center of McCormick Place.{{cite web |url=https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/museum-campus-working-group/home/the-museum-campus.html |title=The Museum Campus |author= |year=2022 |website=Museum Campus Working Group |publisher=City of Chicago |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718171928/https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/museum-campus-working-group/home/the-museum-campus.html |archive-date=July 18, 2024}} Spanning from Roosevelt Road in the north to the terminus of the Stevenson Expressway at Lake Shore Drive in the south, the Museum Campus consists of the southeastern portion of Grant Park, the entirety of Northerly Island, and the northern portion of Burnham Park.{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/grant-ulysses-park |title=Grant (Ulysses) Park |author= |date= |website= |publisher=Chicago Park District |access-date=November 1, 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241010004100/https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/grant-ulysses-park |archive-date=October 10, 2024}}
History
File:Museum Campus, Chicago.jpg
The Museum Campus opened on June 4, 1998, after the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive had been moved west of Soldier Field in 1996, freeing up 36 acres of land.{{cite news |last=Kamin |first=Blair |author-link=Blair Kamin |date=June 4, 1998 |title=Gem in the making: The new Museum Campus is Chicago's latest lakefront jewel, but it still needs a little polishing |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1998/06/04/gem-in-the-making/ |url-status=live |department=Tempo |work=Chicago Tribune |pages=E1, E13 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241101173922/https://www.chicagotribune.com/1998/06/04/gem-in-the-making/ |archive-date=November 1, 2024 |url-access=limited}} It was created to transform the vicinity of three of the city's most notable museums – the Adler Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Field Museum of Natural History – into a scenic pedestrian-friendly area. The area is landscaped with greenery and flora as well as jogging paths and walkways.
A picturesque promenade along Solidarity Drive, an isthmus, links Northerly Island to the mainland. The median of the drive itself is lined with a number of grand bronze monuments: a 1904 sculpture designed by Kazimierz Chodziński commemorating Thaddeus Kościuszko, relocated from Humboldt Park in 1978; a 1911 monument to Karel Havlíček Borovský relocated from Douglass Park in 1983; and a 1973 replica of a famous 19th-century statue in Warsaw, designed by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, depicting Nicholas Copernicus.{{Unbulleted list citebundle | For the Kościuszko monument, see {{cite web |url=https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/thaddeus-kosciuszko-monument |title=Thaddeus Kosciuszko Monument |author= |date= |website= |publisher=Chicago Park District |access-date=November 1, 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615150231/https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/thaddeus-kosciuszko-monument |archive-date=June 15, 2024}} | For the Havliček monument, see {{cite web |url=https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/karel-havlicek-monument |title=Karel Havlicek Monument |author= |date= |website= |publisher=Chicago Park District |access-date=November 1, 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526122616/https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks-facilities/karel-havlicek-monument |archive-date=May 26, 2024}} | For the Copernicus monument, see {{cite web |url=https://www.adlerplanetarium.org/blog/copernicus-the-astronomer-the-city/ |title=Copernicus: The Astronomer & the City |last=Raposo |first=Pedro |date=February 19, 2019 |website=The Adler 'Scope |series= |publisher=Adler Planetarium |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305104742/https://www.adlerplanetarium.org/blog/copernicus-the-astronomer-the-city/ |archive-date=March 5, 2024}} }}
In 2014, a consortium of museums in or near the University of Chicago, formed Museum Campus South, which includes the MSI, ISAC, Robie, DuSable, and later joined by the Obama Center.{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/south-side-museums-form-museum-campus-south/ |title=South Side Museums Form "Museum Campus South" |author= |date=July 24, 2014 |website= |publisher=CBS Chicago |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419161605/https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/south-side-museums-form-museum-campus-south/ |archive-date=April 19, 2023}} Also in 2014, filmmaker George Lucas selected Museum Campus as the location of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which would have cost an estimated $700 million,{{cite news|last=Sneed|first=Michael|title=Sneed scoop: Chicago lands George Lucas Museum|url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2014/6/25/18601928/sneed-scoop-chicago-lands-george-lucas-museum|date=June 24, 2014|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925235553/https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2014/6/25/18601928/sneed-scoop-chicago-lands-george-lucas-museum|archive-date=September 25, 2021}} and expanded Museum Campus south along the city's waterfront. However, these plans were canceled in June 2016 due to opposition from the Friends of the Parks advocacy group.{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/lucas-museums-chicago-plan-now-a ppears-dead/ |title=Lucas Museum's Chicago Plan Now Appears Dead |author= |date=May 3, 2016 |website= |publisher=CBS Chicago |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201141458/https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/lucas-museums-chicago-plan-now-appears-dead/ |archive-date=December 1, 2023}}
In celebration of the 2018 Illinois Bicentennial, the Museum Campus was selected as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places by the American Institute of Architects Illinois state office.{{Cite web |url=https://www.springfieldbusinessjournal.com/articles/the-proud-history-of-architecture-in-illinois-14997906 |title=The proud history of architecture in Illinois |last=Waldinger |first=Mike |date=January 30, 2018 |website=Springfield Business Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240810075442/https://www.springfieldbusinessjournal.com/articles/the-proud-history-of-architecture-in-illinois-14997906 |archive-date=August 10, 2024}}
The Bears plan to construct their new stadium on the Museum Campus, and is scheduled to open in 2028.{{cite web |url=https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/what-to-know-about-the-chicago-bears-new-stadium-plans/ |title=What to know about the Chicago Bears’ new stadium plans |last=Johnson |first=Michael |date=April 25, 2024 |orig-date=updated June 12, 2024 |website= |publisher=WGN-TV |access-date= |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241101181356/https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/what-to-know-about-the-chicago-bears-new-stadium-plans/ |archive-date=November 1, 2024}}
Campus Museums
{{gallery
|File:KM 6126 field museum august 2007.jpg|Field Museum of Natural History
|File:Adler fg02.jpg|Adler Planetarium
|File:JohnGSheddAquarium.jpg|Shedd Aquarium
|File:20070110 Grant Park Museum Campus sign.JPG|"Museum Campus" sign in Grant Park
}}
See also
{{Portal|Chicago}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.illinoisgreatplaces.com/#detail/chicago_museum_campus-026/type=cultural/city=chicago Museum Campus] entry in AIA Illinois 200 Great Places
{{Grant Park}}
{{Chicago}}
{{Near South Side, Chicago}}
{{Community areas of Chicago}}
{{Neighborhoods in Chicago}}
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