The
Chicago Navy Pier is a large pier on Lake
Michigan near a neighbourhood known as
Streeterville. Finished in 1916, it was
originally called the Chicago Municipal
Pier. At the time of its construction
it was the world's largest pier, being
292 ft wide and 3000ft long. It was originally
designed as a shipping and entertainment
area, and most people alive at the time
thought it was very good at its job. It
had a “fair like” atmosphere
with people having fun by the lakeside.
As the World War One approached the pier
was used for shipping men and materials
over to Europe.
After World War One places like the Chicago
Navy Pier started to go into decline.
People could go to the movies or to a
bar, and as the “roaring 20s”
came into full effect people went elsewhere.
To make matters worse the Depression made
it worse, as no one had money for anything.
The pier was renamed “Navy Pier”
to honour those who died in World War
One, and began to serve as a place to
train young Navy cadets. In 1965 the university
moved to its new location and the Navy
Pier started to decay.
By
1976 people started to be interested in
the pier again, but it wasn’t until
the 1980s that the city saw it as a way
to get people out and about. The project
was finished by 1993, and it became a
modern Chicago landmark. The two major
buildings on the Navy Pier, the Headhouse
and the Auditorium, have both survived.
The Headhouse is now home to Chicago's
children museum and the Auditorium is
used for special events, as it has a famous
ballroom.
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