#1 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Worth (Neighborhood)
Chicago IL
~0.01 miles from Chicago city center
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#2 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Symphony Center
Chicago IL
~0.02 miles from Chicago city center
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#3 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
Franklin Park IL
~0.04 miles from Chicago city center
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#4 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Haskell Building
Chicago IL
~0.17 miles from Chicago city center
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#5 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Fine Arts Building
Chicago IL
~0.17 miles from Chicago city center
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#6 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
The Loop (Neighborhood)
Chicago IL
~0.21 miles from Chicago city center
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#7 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Pritzker Pavilion
Chicago IL
~0.22 miles from Chicago city center
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#8 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Millennium Park
Franklin Park IL
~0.22 miles from Chicago city center
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#9 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Chicago Public Library (Harold Washington Library Center)
Chicago IL
~0.26 miles from Chicago city center
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The Harold Washington Library Center is the central library for the Chicago Public Library System. It is named for former Mayor Harold Washington. It is located just south of the Loop 'L', at 400 S. State Street in Chicago. It is a full service library and ADA compliant. As with all libraries in the Chicago Public Library system, it has free wifi internet service. It is approximately 756,640 square feet (70,294 m2).
It opened to the public October 7, 1991. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Hammond, Beeby and Babka, now known as Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge, Inc., winners of a design competition held in 1987.
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#10 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Chicago Cultural Center
Chicago IL
~0.26 miles from Chicago city center
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The Chicago Cultural Center is a Chicago Landmark building that houses the city's official reception venue where the Mayor has welcomed Presidents and royalty, diplomats and community leaders. The building is a testament to the foresight of Chicago's turn of the (20th) century cultural leadership. Originally the central library building, it was converted to an arts and culture center at the instigation of Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Lois Weisberg.
As the nation's first free municipal cultural center, the Chicago Cultural Center is one of the city's most popular attractions and is considered one of the most comprehensive arts showcases in the United States. Each year, the Chicago Cultural Center features more than 1,000 programs and exhibitions covering a wide range of the performing, visual and literary arts.
According to Crain's Chicago Business, the Chicago Cultural Center was the fifth most-visited cultural institution in the Chicago area in 2007, with 821,000 visitors.
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#11 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Auditorium Building and Theatre
Chicago IL
~0.26 miles from Chicago city center
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#12 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Monadnock Building
Chicago IL
~0.28 miles from Chicago city center
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#13 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Fisher Building
Chicago IL
~0.29 miles from Chicago city center
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#14 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Grant Park
Franklin Park
~0.29 miles from Chicago city center
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#15 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Old Colony Building
Chicago IL
~0.32 miles from Chicago city center
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#16 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Buckingham Fountain
Chicago IL
~0.32 miles from Chicago city center
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Buckingham Fountain is a Chicago landmark in Grant Park which was dedicated in 1927. The fountain itself represents Lake Michigan, while each sea horse symbolizes a state bordering the lake.
The fountain is considered to be Chicago's front door, since it resides from Grant Park, the city's front yard.The fountain, located at Columbus Drive and Congress Parkway in Grant Park, was designed with sculptures by Jacques Lambert. It was donated to the city by Kate Buckingham in memory of her brother, Clarence Buckingham. The fountain itself represents Lake Michigan, while each sea horse symbolizes a state bordering the lake. The statues were created by the French sculptor Marcel F. Loyau. The design of the fountain was based on the Bassin de Latome and modeled after Latona Fountain at Versailles. The fountain used to be known as the Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain. Kate Buckingham also established the Buckingham Fountain Endowment Fund with an initial investment of $300,000 to pay for maintenance on the fountain. Buckingham Fountain was dedicated on August 26, 1927.
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#17 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Photography
Chicago IL
~0.36 miles from Chicago city center
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#18 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Aon Center
Chicago IL
~0.37 miles from Chicago city center
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#19 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Picasso Statue
Chicago IL
~0.38 miles from Chicago city center
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#20 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre
Chicago IL
~0.42 miles from Chicago city center
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#21 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Chicago Theater
Chicago IL
~0.46 miles from Chicago city center
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The grandeur of The Chicago Theatre often leaves its visitors breathless. The elegant lobby, majestic staircase and beautiful auditorium complete with murals above the stage and on the ceiling, are components of an amazing building called "the Wonder Theatre of the World" when it opened on October 26, 1921.
The Chicago Theatre was the first large, lavish movie palace in America and was the prototype for all others. This beautiful movie palace was constructed for $4 million by theatre owners Barney and Abe Balaban and Sam and Morris Katz and designed by Cornelius and George Rapp. It was the flagship of the Balaban and Katz theatre chain.
Built in French Baroque style, The Chicago Theatre's exterior features a miniature replica of Paris' Arc de Triomphe, sculpted above its State Street marquee. Faced in a glazed, off-white terra cotta, the triumphal arch is sixty feet wide and six stories high. Within the arch is a grand window in which is set a large circular stained-glass panel bearing the coat-of-arms of the Balaban and Katz chain - two horses holding ribbons of 35-mm film in their mouths.
The grand lobby, modeled after the Royal Chapel at Versailles, is five stories high and surrounded by gallery promenades at the mezzanine and balcony levels. The grand staircase is patterned after that of the Paris Opera House and ascends to the various levels of the Great Balcony.
The 3,600 seat auditorium is seven stories high, more than one half of a city block wide, and nearly as long. The vertical sign "C-H-I-C-A-G-O," at nearly six stories high, is one of the few such signs in existence today. A symbol of State Street and Chicago, the sign and marquee are landmarks in themselves, as is the 29-rank Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ.
Balaban and Katz spared no expense on the workmanship and materials for this miniature Versailles. Marshall Field's supplied the drapes, furniture and interior decoration. Victor Pearlman and Co. designed and built the crystal chandeliers and lavish bronze light fixtures with Steuben glass shades. The McNulty Brothers' master craftsmen produced the splendid plaster details and Northwestern Terra Cotta Company provided the tiles for the facade.
The Chicago Theatre first opened its doors on October 26, 1921 with Norma Talmadge on screen in "The Sign on the Door." A 50-piece orchestra performed in the pit and Jesse Crawford played the mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ. After a "white glove inspection," a staff of 125 ushers welcomed guests who paid 25 cents until 1 p.m., 35 cents in the afternoon and 50 cents after 6 p.m.
During its first 40 years, The Chicago Theatre presented the best in live and film entertainment, including John Phillip Sousa, Duke Ellington, Jack Benny, and Benny Goodman. The Chicago Theatre was redecorated in preparation for the 1933 Chicago World's Fair and "modernized" in the 1950s when stage shows, with few exceptions, were discontinued. In the 1970s, under the ownership of the Plitt Theatres, The Chicago Theatre was the victim of a complex web of social and economic factors causing business to sag. It became an ornate but obsolete movie house, closing on September 19, 1985.
In 1986, Chicago Theatre Restoration Associates, with assistance from the City of Chicago, bought and saved the theatre from demolition and began a meticulous nine-month multi-million dollar restoration undertaken by Chicago architects Daniel P. Coffey & Associates, Ltd. and interior design consultants A.T. Heinsbergen & Co. of Los Angeles, interior design consultants. The Chicago Theatre reopened on September 10, 1986 with a gala performance by Frank Sinatra.
Since that time, an array of the entertainment world's brightest stars and greatest productions have graced the stage, including Allman Brothers Band, Arcade Fire, Blues Traveler, Kelly Clarkson, Harry Connick Jr, Ellen DeGeneres, Aretha Franklin, Kathy Griffin, , Gipsy Kings, Indigo Girls, Alicia Keys, David Letterman, Lyle Lovett, Oasis, Dolly Parton, Prince, Diana Ross, Van Morrison, Widespread Panic and Robin Williams.
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#22 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Goodman Theater
Chicago IL
~0.46 miles from Chicago city center
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#23 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Chicago City Hall
Chicago IL
~0.51 miles from Chicago city center
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Chicago City Hall is the official seat of government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. Adjacent to the Richard J. Daley Center and the James R. Thompson Center, the building that includes Chicago City Hall houses the offices of the mayor, city clerk, and city treasurer of Chicago; some city departments; aldermen of Chicago's various wards; and chambers of the Chicago City Council on the west side of the building. The building's east side (called the County Building) is devoted to the various offices of Cook County. Situated on a city block bounded by Randolph, LaSalle, Washington, and Clark streets, the 11-story structure was designed by the architectural firm Holabird & Roche in the classical revival style. The building was officially dedicated on February 27, 1911.
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#24 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Theatre District
Franklin Park IL
~0.53 miles from Chicago city center
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#25 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
South Loop (Neighborhood)
Chicago IL
~0.54 miles from Chicago city center
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#26 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Printer's Row (Neighborhood)
Chicago IL
~0.58 miles from Chicago city center
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#27 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Magnificent Mile - Michigan Ave (Neighborhood)
Chicago IL
~0.61 miles from Chicago city center
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#28 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Sears Tower
Franklin Park
~0.63 miles from Chicago city center
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#29 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
311 S Wacker Dr
311 S Wacker Dr Chicago IL
~0.64 miles from Chicago city center
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65-story skyscraper completed in 1990. 311 South Wacker Drive is a worthy accompaniment to the Sears Tower next door. In its stature it mimics the Sears, and from certain angles, its flanking wings appear to be setbacks in the same manner as its neighbor.
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#30 of 30 Things To Do in Chicago
Michigan Avenue Bridge
Chicago IL
~0.65 miles from Chicago city center
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