Improvements to Navy Pier will continue beyond this year’s Centennial celebrations as one of Chicago’s most-visited tourist destinations continues to plan beyond its 100th anniversary, Marilynn Gardner, the pier’s president and CEO, told members of the City Club last week.
Navy Pier opened in July 1906 and has frequently played host to events and other cultural offerings through its first 100 years. During World War II, the pier served as a U.S. Navy training site.
Gardner told the City Club that the past few years of improvements have reaped benefits with 8.5 million visitors annually to the site making it the Midwest’s top tourist draw. Under a new non-profit organization and board, the pier now offers expanded food offerings and other amenities -- in particular, the new Centennial Ferris wheel.
“I believe that what’s unfolding at Navy Pier now in its second century will be regarded as a major new chapter in the Chicago story,” Gardner said. “I’m so proud that our hopes and dreams are being realized... Our vision is bold and our plans are ambitious, but I’m confident that individuals, foundations and corporations will join us in these efforts.”
This year, Gardner said, has seen significant achievements, further broadening the pier’s cultural place in the city. They include new and improved, Chicago-focused food offerings; the Polk Bros. Fountain and Plaza, which features a promenade and interactive, 100-foot fountain; and the new Ferris wheel.
The pier has had a busy summer. Officials hosted the first LGBT Pride celebration event outside the Lakeview neighborhood on June 25, an occasion laden with particular emotional resonance after the shooting at a gay night club in Orlando, Gardner said. The pier also hosted America’s Cup sailboat racing series, the first time the international event has been held on fresh water.
Gardner was asked what Navy Pier would be like in the next century. “I see it as always being a place where Chicago is celebrated,” Gardner said.