Chase Promenade

Chase Promenade

Company type	Outdoor public space
Industry	Public park / Event venue
Founded	July 16, 2004 (2004-07-16)
Headquarters	Chicago , United States
Area served	Millennium Park, Chicago Loop
Products	Venue for exhibitions, festivals, community gatherings, private event rentals

Chase Promenade—previously known as Bank One Promenade—is an outdoor, tree-lined walkway designed for pedestrians, which officially opened on July 16, 2004. Situated within Millennium Park in Chicago's Loop district, this promenade was established thanks to a donation from the Bank One Foundation. Spanning , it serves as a venue for exhibitions, festivals, community gatherings, and private event rentals.

Among its significant showcases are the 2005 Revealing Chicago: An Aerial Portrait photographic display, the 2008 Paintings Below Zero art installation, and the 2009 Burnham Pavilions, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Burnham Plan.

Details

Grant Park, positioned between Lake Michigan and the Loop, has been recognized as Chicago's principal public park since the mid-1800s. The park’s northwest section—bounded by Monroe Street to the south, Michigan Avenue on the west, Randolph Street to the north, and Columbus Drive to the east—was once occupied by Illinois Central railroad yards and parking areas until its transformation into Millennium Park in 1997. Today, Millennium Park holds a rank just behind Navy Pier as one of Chicago’s most frequented tourist destinations.

The promenade extends from Randolph Street at its northern edge down to Monroe Street in the south and is divided into three distinct areas: North Promenade, Central Promenade, and South Promenade. It includes fixed tent anchors that facilitate hosting private events throughout all seasons.

Past exhibitions

The city has utilized the promenade as a setting for numerous festivals and art exhibitions.

From June 10 to October 10, 2005, Revealing Chicago: An Aerial Portrait was exhibited along the Central Chase Promenade and the South Boeing Gallery. This display comprised 100 photographs capturing scenes from the Chicago metropolitan area, taken over 50 flights conducted between March 2003 and August 2004 during various seasons. Local photographer Terry Evans remarked that although most images were captured via helicopter flights, her preferred aerial method is hot air ballooning; however, Chicago’s wind conditions limited this option.

Between 2007 and 2008, five sculptures by Mark di Suvero were presented at the smaller Boeing Galleries within the promenade. Art critic Alan G. Artner of the Chicago Tribune commented that di Suvero’s medium-scale works felt somewhat confined by the gallery’s dimensions and suggested that the Chase Promenade itself could have provided a more suitable space for his sculptures.

During February 1–29, 2008, Millennium Park hosted Museum of Modern Ice, a winter exhibition featuring artist Gordon Halloran’s Paintings Below Zero on the Central Promenade. The highlight was an abstract piece crafted on four ice panels measuring . Halloran also applied painted designs to the surface of the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink.

In celebration of Millennium Park’s fifth anniversary and the centennial of the Burnham Plan in 2009, two privately sponsored pavilions designed by architects Zaha Hadid and Ben van Berkel were installed at the southern end of Chase Promenade. Displayed from June 19 through October 31, these structures emphasized the lasting impact of the Burnham Plan on Chicago’s urban development.

External links

• Official City of Chicago Millennium Park page
• Map of Millennium Park
• Community Map of Chicago’s Loop area