According to Crain’s Chicago, Navy Pier will begin renovations on the family pavilion near the main entrance after a two-year delay due to lack of funding.
Renovations for Navy Pier’s Centennial Vision plan were announced in 2013, and although much of it has been funded through tax funds from the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority, as well as various donations to the pier’s nonprofit organization, cost overages from renovations to the food court and south dock led to funding shortages for the pavilion.
Construction on the pavilion is slated to begin in mid-September of this year, with completion anticipated for next spring. Renovation plans for this section of the pier include the addition of a grand staircase connecting the ground floor to the Crystal Gardens, a glass atrium that holds a one-acre botanical garden on the pier’s second floor. Vendor carts will also be removed and replaced with kiosks throughout the pavilion.
It’s likely that the work on Navy Pier’s family pavilion will be financed through a loan. The pier has been the subject of recent controversy, in which the Mayor has come under fire for allegedly paying for a portion of the pier’s renovations through funds that were meant to be allocated toward serving underprivileged neighborhoods, even though he publicly stated that the funds would be used for the new hotel development near McCormick Place.
It’s likely that the work on Navy Pier’s family pavilion will be financed through a loan. Although there has been a recent swirl of controversy surrounding funding sources for renovations to the pier and developments taking place at McCormick Square, the $115 million granted to Navy Pier towards its Centennial Vision by the MPEA has been used at the discretion of Navy Pier’s nonprofit, which was established as its own entity in 2011.
Developments at the new McCormick Square hotel, which was formerly a parking lot on Cermak, were eligible for TIF. Of the estimated $500 million project, $55 million in TIF dollars has been utilized toward various parts of its construction, and has been said to have employed more than 100 people directly from the community. Upon completion of the hotel and the upcoming Wintrust Arena, the subsequent tourism to the area is anticipated to spurn economic growth in the neighborhood. The hotel’s opening is slated for this fall.
*Story Updated 8/8/17
