BUILDING AN ICON: CONSTRUCTION PHOTOGRAPHS OF MILLENNIUM PARK NEW COLLECTION AND EXHIBIT

Since opening in July 2004, Millennium Park has attracted Chicagoans and visitors alike with its world-class art, architecture and public programs. The transformation of Millennium Park, from unsightly railroad tracks and an underground parking lot, into a breathtaking internationally acclaimed urban park is the subject of a new exhibit featuring photographs from a U.S. Equities Realty collection and titled, Building an Icon: Construction Photographs of Millennium Park. The exhibit will be open from Saturday, September 26, 2009 thru January 17, 2010, at the Chicago Public Library's Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St. in the Congress Corridor on the Library's first floor.

A total of forty photographs that dramatically illustrate the successive construction phases of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion and the Park's other structures were selected for the exhibit. These photographs are from a collection of more than 5,000 construction shots made between 1999 and 2005. The images were created as U.S. Equities Realty oversaw the development of Cloud Gate, Crown Fountain, Pritzker Pavilion and BP Bridge. In 2006, U.S. Equities, donated the collection to the Chicago Public Library.

In addition, after the exhibit opens the full collection of photographs will be available on the Library's website (chicagopubliclibrary.org, click on "Digital Collections") and in the Special Collections Reading Room on the 9th floor of the Harold Washington Library Center. It offers researchers an unparalleled view of the development of Millennium Park. The processing and preserving of these images was made possible by a gift of the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation through the Chicago Public Library Foundation.

Millennium Park, managed and programmed by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, is an award-winning center for art, music, architecture, and landscape design. The result of a unique partnership between the City of Chicago and the philanthropic community, the 24.5-acre park features the work of world-renowned architects, planners, artists and designers. Among Millennium Park's prominent features are the Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion, the most sophisticated outdoor concert venue of its kind in the United States; the interactive Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa; the contemporary Lurie Garden designed by the team of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Piet Oudolf and Robert Israel; and Anish Kapoor's hugely popular Cloud Gate sculpture. As of today, Millennium Park has welcomed more than 16 million people, making it one of the most popular destinations in Chicago.

The Chicago Public Library continues to encourage lifelong learning by welcoming all people and offering equal access to information, entertainment and knowledge through materials, programs and cutting-edge technology.