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LOCAL News :: Urban Development

Millenium Park Not So Public After All

Howls over charge for Millennium Park concert

September 1, 2005
BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter

Singer Tori Amos' latest album is called the Beekeeper. But with her performance at Millennium Park on Wednesday night, it was the public who got stung, a park watchdog is charging.

Nothing against the red-haired songstress. But Amos' show marked the first Millennium Park performance in which lawn seats were sold rather than free to the public -- a conflict with the city's description of the facility as a gift to the public, said the Friends of the Parks group. "This is setting a precedent that is totally going against the plan for the park as a free and open space for the public,'' Friends of the Parks President Erma Tranter said Wednesday.

Denies park was closed
Karen Ryan, spokeswoman for Millennium Park, acknowledged that the lawn seat charge -- $10 -- was a first for the park. For previous concerts, fees have been charged for seats in the Pritzker Pavilion, but the lawn has been free. A brochure for the Grant Park Music Festival, which presents a series of classical and Broadway concerts each summer, touts, "You never need a ticket to attend a concert! The lawn and the general seating section are always admission free.''

Jam Productions paid Millennium Park $50,000 to stage the Amos concert, said Ryan. But she denied Tranter's assertion that the agreement effectively closed the public park. The Cloud Gate sculpture, Crown Fountain and Lurie Gardens remained accessible and free, said Ryan.
Garage revenues fall short
Ryan called the Amos concert a "test case'' but promised that in the future, "99 percent of the concerts will be free.'' She called the lawn admission "a small fee'' and said officials were excited about bringing in "a different crowd'' from those who show up for the typical orchestral performances there.

Park officials are looking for revenues to help support the 24.5-. acre Michigan Avenue green space. Parking garage revenues, which were supposed to retire park bonds, have fallen short, requiring the city to dip into a reserve fund to cover payments.

On Sept. 8, much of the park will be closed again as it is rented for $800,000 as a private playground for Toyota dealers -- a decision that has also rankled Friends of the Parks.
 
 

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