McCormick Tribune Plaza & Ice
Rink or McCormick Tribune Plaza is a
multi-purpose venue located along the western edge of Millennium Park
in the Historic
Michigan Boulevard District
of the Loop
area of Chicago
in Cook
County
, Illinois
, USA
.
Opening in 2001, it was the first attraction in Millennium Park.
The plaza was funded by a donation from the McCormick Tribune
Foundation. It has served as an
ice
skating rink, a dining facility and briefly as an open-air
exhibition space.
For four months a year, it operates as
McCormick Tribune
Ice Rink, a free public outdoor ice skating rink that it
is generally open from mid-November until mid-March. It is known as
one of Chicago's better outdoor
people
watching locations during the winter months.
For the rest of the year, it serves as
Plaza at Park
Grill or
Park Grill Plaza, Chicago's
largest outdoor dining facility.
The park grill hosts various culinary
events as well as music during its months of outdoor operation, and
it is affiliated with the indoor Park Grill restaurant located
beneath AT&T
Plaza
and Cloud Gate
. The outdoor restaurant is highly
regarded for its location with its views of the park.
History
File:Millennium Park Map labels.png|
Image map of Millennium
Park.
Each feature or label is wikilinked.
|400px|thumb|left
rect 51 18 145 80 McDonald's
Cycle Center
rect 338 2 496 94BP Pedestrian
Bridge
rect 497 62 536 101BP Pedestrian
Bridge
rect 497 6 631 34 Columbus
Drive
rect 10 88 154 104
Exelon Pavilion NErect 47 108 79 131
Exelon Pavilion NErect 619 95 754
112
Exelon Pavilion SErect 728 113
759 135
Exelon Pavilion SErect 10
246 166 263
Exelon Pavilion NWrect
47 265 78 288
Exelon Pavilion
NWrect 613 243 762 258
Exelon
Pavilion SWrect 736 260 757 275
Exelon Pavilion SWrect 44 149 174 229
Harris
Theater
rect 175 103 572 288 Jay Pritzker
Pavilion
rect 573 134 757 238 Lurie Garden
rect 572 311 718 329
Nichols Bridgewayrect 516 298 777 306
Nichols Bridgewayrect 58 350 207 396
Chase
Promenade North
rect 291 350 453 396 Chase
Promenade Central
rect 537 350 687 396 Chase
Promenade South
rect 313 397 431 424 AT&T Plaza
rect 37 434 227 473 Boeing
Gallery North
rect 516 433 757 469 Boeing
Gallery South
rect 337 426 416 470 Cloud Gate
rect 60 486 216 546 Wrigley
Square
rect 287 477 457 543 McCormick
Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink
rect 557 488 727 543 Crown
Fountain
rect 308 567 439 583 Michigan
Avenue
rect 1 316 23 442
Randolph Streetdesc
bottom-left
Lying between Lake Michigan
to the east and the Loop to the west, Grant
Park
has been Chicago's front yard since the mid 19th
century. Its northwest corner, north of Monroe Street
and the Art
Institute
, east of Michigan Avenue
, south of Randolph Street, and east of Columbus
Drive, had been Illinois
Central rail yards and parking lots until 1997, when it was
made available for development by the city as Millennium
Park
. Today, Millennium Park trails only Navy Pier
as a Chicago tourist attraction.
The ice rink celebrated its
grand
opening on December 20, 2001, a few weeks ahead of the
Millennium Park underground
parking
garage. Thus it was the first feature of Millennium park to
open.
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, John W. Madigan, Chairman of the
Board of Directors of the McCormick Tribune Foundation,
John Bryan, head of the Millennium Park
private donor group, actress
Bonnie Hunt
and other local celebrities attended the event. The rink was named
after the McCormick Tribune Foundation of the late
Chicago Tribune owner and publisher,
Robert R. McCormick.
The McCormick Tribune
foundation is also a supporter of both the McCormick Tribune Freedom
Museum and the McCormick Tribune Campus
Center
at the Illinois Institute of
Technology
, both of which are also located in
Chicago.
From June 21–September 15, 2002, McCormick Tribune Plaza hosted the
inaugural exhibit in Milllennium Park,
Exelon Presents Earth
From Above by
Yann
Arthus-Bertrand. French
aerial
photographer, Arthus-Bertrand, took 120 photographs from planes
and helicopters flying over 70 countries on every continent.
He
displayed the photographs in dozens of cities starting in Paris
and
including Tokyo
and Geneva
. The
book associated with the exhibit sold over 1.5 million copies
before the summer of 2002.
During the summer of 2002 the Earth From
Above was also displayed in Brazil
, Lebanon
, Poland
, Sweden
, Germany,
Britain
, Norway
, Hungary
and along the banks of the Volga River in Russia. Chicago was the
first American city to host the exhibition. The exhibit was
composed of photographs that were trimmed to prints that were
laminated in a thin
aluminum panel that protected them from
ultraviolet rays. The exhibition was
renowned for capturing the humanity of tragedy as well as beauty.
Among the
scenes of beauty were a village built on coral reefs by Filipino sea gypsies, rock formations in
Madagascar
and a picturesque inlet in the Ionian
Islands
, home to endangered sea
turtles, and of architectural wonders such as the Versailles
Palace
and the Hagia Sophia
in Istanbul. Among the scenes of tragedy were the 1999
earthquake in Turkey
and the
destruction of the Amazonian rain forest. The exhibit used
photovoltaic solar electric panels to store
energy during the day that lit the exhibit through the night.
In past years, the ice rink has been one of the ten parks on ice in
the
Chicago Park District. For
the 2007-2008 skating season, this was not the case. In 2008,
Millennium Park hosted a winter celebration called the Museum of
Modern Ice. The installation included a ice wall and a large
abstract painting by
Gordon
Halloran, which was embedded in the park’s McCormick Tribune
Ice Rink. The works were titled
Paintings Below
Zero.
Operations
Ice rink
The rink is generally open from 10:00 A.M. until 10:00 P.M. seven
days a week for skating. However, it is occasionally closed at 8:00
P.M. for private events. Except for its first year it has been
scheduled to be open weather permitting from mid-November until
mid-March. The rink is open for abbreviated schedules on both
Christmas Day and
New Year's Day. Skating is free and skate
rental is available. Skating is accompanied by
loudspeaker music, which is mostly seasonal
music during the holidays. The
zamboni
operates every two hours beginning at 11:30 A.M. The rink has been
open for free public skating each winter since opening. It has
drawn over 100,000 skaters each year, with heavier attendance on
the weekends and other times when school is not in session.
Romantic holidays (
Christmas Eve and
Valentine's Day) are also quite
crowded.
It is a popular people watching location
during the winter months, rivaled only by the Rockefeller
Center
rink. Many viewing events at the McCormick Tribune
Plaza from AT&T
Plaza
above and to the east. In fact, the ice
skating rink has risen to a level of popularity that when the
November 2005 weather was too warm for the rink's opening, the
story became international news.
Park Grill Plaza

Viewed from the northwest during the
summer
During the offseason
alfresco dining is
available in a 150-seat
cafe set up on the ice
rink, in what is then referred to as the Park Grill Plaza.
This
outdoor dining experience is associated with the Park Grill
Restaurant and the Park Grill Cafe, which are both located under
the Cloud
Gate
on AT&T
Plaza
. The Park Grill Plaza is the largest outdoor
dining venue in Chicago, and hosts a variety of events, including a
benefit called "Chefs on the Grill" in which guests interact with
invited chefs who are competing to produce the best dish.
Wine tastings are also hosted here, and during
the summer, the Park Grill Plaza hosts musical performances on
Thursdays. During the skating season, there are rinkside tables and
the Park Grill Cafe, which is associated with the Park Grill
Restaurant, offers take out/to-go service. McCormick Tribune Plaza
& Ice Rink is one of two features in the park to include
accessible restrooms.
The other is Jay Pritzker
Pavilion
. The restrooms are located adjacent to the
Park Grill.
The restaurant is known for a view that makes up for unimpressive
service, according to
Fodor's.
However,
Citysearch speaks positively
about the service.
Metromix, Fodor's and
Frommer's laud the location of
the restaurant. The restaurant serves
New American cuisine. Frommer's gives
the restaurant 2 out of 3 stars and notes that the restaurant has a
kids menu to accomodate the numerous families that attend the park.
Metromix notes that the restaurant is well
known for its signature Park Grill Burger. The northern area of the
Plaza has been named the North Lounge and has furniture for
lounging as well as a distinct menu including options from the
Plaza's menu as well as its own offerings. The indoor restaurant
has seating for 180 and a VIP room. The restaurant serves dinner,
lunch, and weekend brunch.
Details

Ice skating and people watching
The ice skating rink is , but due to the rounded corners of the
skating surface it totals of skating surface. This is considerably
larger than the Rockefeller Center rink which is . The rink has a
lobby for a respite from the natural environs, as well as toilets
and public lockers. During the 2003-04 season the rink rented
77,667 pairs of
ice skates. Availability
of the rink depends on the weather, but the ice rink has a
state-of-the-art chiller system that can maintain the ice in the
event of unseasonably warm weather. Thus, temperature is not the
only factor involved in decisions to close the rink. During the
offseason it becomes the 300-seat Park Grill dining facility.
Although the rink was budgeted for
$5
million, it was constructed for only $3.2 million, making it one of
the few Millennium Park attractions to cost less than was initially
budgeted.
Although the rink is fairly new, it has begun to appear in pop
culture. Part of
The Weather Man,
starring
Nicolas Cage was shot at the
rink.
Alcohol is allowed in the
McCormick Tribune Plaza when the park is open (6:00A.M. to
11:00P.M. daily)
Notes
- Gilfoyle, p. 324.
References
External links