Jay Pritzker Pavilion
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Kevin Nance and Wayne Delacoma of the Chicago Sun-Times said that even on the opening weekend it was clear that the acousticians, Talaske Group, and Gehry had solved many of the problems and mysteries of the outdoor presentation of classical music. James Palermo, artistic and general director of the Grant Park Music Festival felt that the musicians were able to interact more effectively with the new sound system because they were able to hear each other better.
Controversies
Protected by legislation that has been affirmed by four previous Illinois Supreme Court rulings, Grant Park has been "forever open, clear and free" since 1836, which was a year before the city of Chicago was incorporated. In 1839, United States Secretary of War Joel Roberts
Poinsett declared the land between Randolph Street and Madison Street east of Michigan Avenue "Public Ground forever to remain vacant of buildings. Aaron Montgomery Ward, who is known both as the inventor of mail order and the protector of Grant Park, twice sued the city of Chicago to force it to remove buildings and structures from Grant Park and to keep it from building new ones. As a result, the city has what are termed the Montgomery Ward height restrictions on buildings and structures in Grant Park. However, Crown Fountain and the 130-foot (40 m) Pritzker Pavilion were exempt from the height restrictions because they were classified as works of art and not buildings or structures. According to The Economist, the pavilion is described as a work of art to dodge the protections established by Ward, who "rules over Grant Park from the grave".
The naming of Jay Pritzker Pavilion was a cause for protests. The new pavilion was built as a replacement for Grant Park's decades-old Petrillo Music Shell, which had a long history of hosting free music events and was named for James C. Petrillo, a labor union leader who started free concerts in Grant Park. When the original bandshell was replaced and relocated a bit further north in Grant Park in 1978, the new structure retained the Petrillo name. In the early 2000s, the Petrillo family said naming the new music shell in Millennium Park for Jay Pritzker ignored Petrillo's legacy, and threatened legal action. As of 2009, the Petrillo Music Shell was still in use, though Chicago Tribune arts critic Howard Reich described it as "dilapidated" and "dismal".
View of the pavilion with the Harris Theater (left), BP Pedestrian Bridge (above) and Lurie Garden (right), as seen from Willis Tower.