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Millennium Park and the Lurie Garden – US Rail Journeys Series 3 Episode 33
‘Millennium Park and the Lurie Garden’ takes me through the streets of Chicago to this wonderful garden in the centre of the city.
Please click on a thumbnail to see the photographs that go with this podcast:
Through the streets:
I’m now in the heart of The Loop, the ‘downtown’ area in Chicago. In every direction I look are the skyscrapers which last night had their tops hidden in the clouds.
I’m see the amazing Carbide and Carbon building, built in 1929. It really is an absolute stunner. According to popular legend, the architects chose this building’s dark green and gold colours, based on a gold foiled champagne bottle. Whether true or not, the building is one of the most distinctive features on the Chicago skyline.
I pass plenty of places to eat. Some are premium establishments and many are chains. There are many that I’ve never seen before, such as Stan’s Donuts and Bubblelicious Milk and Fruit Tea. Yes, it really does exist!
Millennium Park:
As you enter Millennium Park from the north one of the first things you see is the Millennium Monument. The dedication is to Millennium Park’s founders. There are individuals, including someone called Anonymous, through to big corporations.
It’s quite a warm day and there is a big water feature where people are paddling. Others are getting soaked by the water raining down from above.
In each part of Millennium Park the roadways and paths bear the names of some of the sponsors.
The Lurie Garden:
The Lurie Garden is a two and a half acre garden at the southern end of the Millennium Park. It combines natural planting with ecologically sensitive maintenance practices. It is an urban oasis for both visitors and wildlife. The habitat supports a wide variety of plants, animals, and insects.
In 1997 the Illinois Central Rail Yards it were made available for development into the Millennium Park and Lurie Gardens.
Today it creates a rooftop garden on top of the Millennium Park parking garage, which is itself above railway tracks. The garden blends with Chicago’s past, present and future. It reflects Chicago’s transformation from a flat marshland to a city that invests in extensive green spaces. Or as they call it, ‘Herbs in Horto’. Apparently the Latin for a ‘City in a Garden’.
Listen to the podcast to hear the rest of my morning in Chicago.
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Music:
AKM Music licenses Steam Railway and In Green Forest for use in this podcast.
