Museum Campus is a 57-acre (23Â ha) park in Chicago that sits alongside Lake Michigan and encompasses five of the city's most notable attractions: the Adler Planetarium, America's first planetarium; the Shedd Aquarium; the Field Museum of Natural History; Soldier Field, home of the NFL Chicago Bears football team; and the Lakeside Center of McCormick Place. Museum Campus sits adjacent to Northerly Island along the waterfront.
History
The Museum Campus was created to transform the vicinity of three of the city's most notable museums â€" the Adler Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Field Museum of Natural History â€" along with Soldier Field stadium, 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 drive itself is lined with a number of grand bronze monuments commemorating KoÅ›ciuszko, HavliÄek, and Nicholas Copernicus, the last of which is a replica of a famous 19th-century work in Warsaw by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.
The Museum Campus opened on June 4, 1998, when the northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive were moved west of Soldier Field following the route of the expressway's southbound lanes. By removing the roadway which bisected the area, Museum Campus was created into a green space for the enjoyment of both residents and tourists. In 2014, a consortium of museums in or near the University of Chicago, formed Museum Campus South. 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, and expanded Museum Campus south along the city's waterfront. However, these plans were cancelled in June 2016 due to opposition from the Friends of the Parks advocacy group.
In August 2016, in a partnership with the City of Chicago, the Chicago Parks District and Everywhere Wireless, Museum Campus joined many Chicago Beaches and Buckingham Fountain in providing free Wi-Fi to visitors
Campus Museums
See also
- List of museums and cultural institutions in Chicago
References
External links
- Museum Campus map
- View on Google Maps â€" includes a short video
