Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a 3,300-foot-long (1,010 m) pier on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Navy Pier encompasses over 50 acres (20 ha) of shops, restaurants, live theaters, family attractions, parks (including Polk Bros Park), gardens, and exhibition facilities and is one of the top destinations in the Midwestern United States, drawing over nine million visitors annually.[2][3] It is one of the most visited attractions in the entire Midwest and is Chicago's second-most visited tourist attraction.[2][4]
Location
1916
Charles S. Frost
E.C. Shankland
September 13, 1979
November 14, 1977
Tenants[edit]
The Chicago Sun-Times has its headquarters in the Navy Pier.[29] WBEZ, affiliated with the newspaper, is the lessee of 45,000 square feet (4,200 m2) of space, which has radio and newspaper functions.[30]
Events and art[edit]
Navy Pier hosts sightseeing tours from companies such as Seadog Ventures, Shoreline Sightseeing cruises and Water Taxi service, and the tall ship "Windy". There are also dinner cruises by Entertainment Cruises on their ships the Spirit of Chicago, Odyssey II, and Mystic Blue. The pier has fireworks on Wednesday and Saturday nights during the summer and Saturday nights during the fall.[24]
Navy Pier hosts the Fifth Third Bank Winter Wonderfest from December through January.
Many outdoor art installations are displayed on the pier. The anchor from the naval vessel USS Chicago (CA-136/CG-11) is on display at the far end.[31] Other installations include a statue of actor Bob Newhart on a couch as seen on The Bob Newhart Show,[32] the Captain on the Helm statue dedicated to maritime captains, and the Crack the Whip sculpture of eight children at play holding hands by J. Seward Johnson Jr.[33][34]
The Festival Halls can be used for sporting events. Festival Halls A and B can be turned into a 170,000 square foot competition arena.[35] Gymnastics meets have been held in the Festival Halls.[35]
In popular culture[edit]
The halls were used to represent Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the 1986 movie The Color of Money for the 9-Ball Championship.[41]
In both Raw Deal and Cooley High, the pier was used as a location for car chases.
The fourth season finale of T. J. Hooker, titled "The Chicago Connection", featured a scene in front of the then-abandoned pier.
In the film Divergent, the pier and Ferris wheel are shown abandoned and decayed in a future Chicago and it is stated that they were abandoned by choice a long time before. The Dauntless members play capture the flag in the park. Tris and Four climb the Ferris wheel to spot the opposing team. In the book, the opposing team hides the flag in a park near Navy Pier, while in the film version, the flag is hidden in a tower of the Chicago Children's Museum building.[42]
In the video game NASCAR 09, the pier is featured as a fictional race track.
The album/DVD A Long Day's Night by Blue Öyster Cult was recorded live at Navy Pier/Skyline Stage on June 21, 2002.[43]