page_title: Millennium Park
section_title: Use restrictions
hierarchical_section_title: Millennium Park / Controversy / Use restrictions
caption_attribution_description: English: The Lurie Garden and the Nichols Bridgeway from The Buckingham
context_page_description: Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and managed by MB Real Estate. The park was intended to celebrate the third millennium and is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a 24.5-acre section of northwestern Grant Park. The area was previously occupied by parkland, Illinois Central's rail yards, and parking lots. The park, which is bounded by Michigan Avenue, Randolph Street, Columbus Drive and East Monroe Drive, features a variety of public art. As of 2009, Millennium Park trailed only Navy Pier as a Chicago tourist attraction and by 2017 it had become the number one tourist attraction in the Midwestern United States. In 2015, the park became the location of the city's annual Christmas tree lighting.
  Planning of the park began in October 1997. Construction began in October 1998, and Millennium Park was opened in a ceremony on July 16, 2004, four years behind schedule. The three-day opening celebrations were attended by some 300,000 people and included an inaugural concert by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus.
context_section_description: When Millennium Park first opened in 2004, Metra police stopped a Columbia College Chicago journalism student working on a photography project, and confiscated his film because of fears of terrorism. In 2005, Cloud Gate attracted some controversy when a professional photographer without a paid permit was denied access to the piece. As is the case for all works of art currently covered by United States copyright law, the artist holds the copyright for the sculpture. The public may freely photograph Cloud Gate, but permission from Kapoor or the City of Chicago (which has licensed the art) is required for any commercial reproductions of the photographs. Initially the city charged photographers permit fees of $350 per day for professional still photographers, $1,200 per day for professional videographers and $50 per hour for wedding photographers. The policy has been changed so permits are only required for large-scale film, video and photography requiring 10-person crews.
  Almost all of Millennium Park was closed for a day for corporate events in 2005 and 2006. Closing a public park partly paid for with taxpayer money was controversial, as was the exclusion of commuters who walk through the park and tourists lured by its attractions.  On September 8, 2005, Toyota Motor Sales USA paid $800,000 to rent all park venues from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m, except Wrigley Square, the Lurie Garden, the McDonald's Cycle Center and the Crown Fountain.  The city said the money was used to fund day-to-day operations, and for free events in the park, including the Lurie Garden Festival, a Steppenwolf Theater production, musical performers along the Chase Promenade all summer long, a jazz series, and children's concerts. The name of Toyota, one of the sponsors, was included on Millennium Park brochures, web site, and advertising signage. The closure provided a public relations opportunity for General Motors, which shuttled 1,500 tourists from the park to see other Chicago attractions. Toyota said it considered $300,000 a rental expense and $500,000 a sponsoring donation. On August 7, 2006, Allstate, which paid $200,000 as a rental expense and $500,000 as a sponsoring donation, acquired the visitation rights to a different set of park features (including Lurie Garden), and only had exclusive access to certain features after 4 p.m.
  The park is closed from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily. Chicago is a dog-friendly city with a half dozen dog beaches, however the city does not permit dogs in the park. Only on-duty  service dogs for the disabled or visually impaired are permitted.
caption: Lurie Garden and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion have both been rented for private events.
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