Editing McCormick Place (section)

==History==
As early as 1927, [[Robert R. McCormick]], a prominent member of the [[McCormick family]] of McCormick Reaper/[[International Harvester]] fame, and publisher of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', championed a purpose-built lakeside [[convention center]] for Chicago. In 1958, ground was broken for a $35 million facility that opened in November 1960, and was named after McCormick, who died in 1955. The lead architect was Alfred Shaw, one of the architects of the [[Merchandise Mart]].<ref>{{cite book| last=Cowan| first=David| year=2001| title=Great Chicago Fires: Historic Blazes that Shaped a City| url=https://archive.org/details/greatchicagofire0000cowa| url-access=limited| publisher=Lake Claremont Press| page=[https://archive.org/details/greatchicagofire0000cowa/page/102 102]| isbn=978-1893121072}}</ref> This building included the [[Arie Crown Theater]], designed by [[Edward Durell Stone]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Edward_D._Stone |title=E. D. Stone entry at archiplanet. |access-date=June 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604220931/http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Edward_D._Stone |archive-date=June 4, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It seated nearly 5,000 people and was the second largest theater (by [[seating capacity]]) in Chicago.

[[File:First McCormick Place.jpg|thumb|The original McCormick Place, completed in 1960, seen in 1966 from Lake Michigan before its destruction by fire in 1967]]
[[Image:20070110 McCormick Place (2).JPG|thumb|Lakeside Center looking south from [[Lake Shore Drive]] and 18th Street in 2007]]
The 1960 exposition hall was destroyed in a major fire on January 16, 1967, despite being thought fireproof by virtue of its steel and concrete construction.<ref name="Benzkofer">{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/ct-per-flash-mccormickplacefire-0205-20120205-story.html |journal=[[Chicago Tribune]] |title=The night McCormick Place burned |first=Stephan |last=Benzkofer |date=5 February 2012 |url-access=subscription |access-date=15 September 2021}}</ref> At the time of the fire, the building contained highly combustible exhibits, several hydrants were shut off, and there were no sprinklers on the main floor where the fire started. Thus the fire spread quickly and destructively, taking the life of security guard Kenneth Goodman.<ref name="Benzkofer"/><ref>Cowan (2001), chpt. 12.</ref>

The fire was investigated by a team led by Rolf H. Jensen, Professor of Fire Protection Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, who later went on to found RJA Group. Many lessons were learned and multiple building, electrical, and fire codes for the city and worldwide were amended to avert a repeat situation.

Although many wanted to rebuild the hall on a different site, Chicago mayor [[Richard J. Daley]] elected to rebuild on the foundations of the burned building. The new design of dark steel and glass, by Gene Summers of C. F. Murphy and Associates (and formerly of [[Mies van der Rohe]]'s office) contrasted markedly with the white look of the structure that had burned. On January 3, 1971, the replacement building, later called the East Building and now called the Lakeside Center, opened with a {{convert|300000|sqft}} main exhibition hall. The Arie Crown Theatre sustained only minor damage in the 1967 fire, and so was incorporated into the interior of the new building. The theater, with the largest seating capacity of any active theater in Chicago (the [[Uptown Theatre (Chicago)|Uptown Theatre]] having more seating, but currently closed), underwent major modifications in 1997 to improve its acoustics.
[[File:Mayor visits McCormick Place’s COVID19 ACF during construction (50196340887) (1).jpg|thumb|Parts of McCormick Place were transformed into a makeshift hospital amid the COVID-19 pandemic.]]
On March 27, 2020, the United States Army Corps of Engineers announced that the complex would begin transforming convention space into a 3,000-bed hospital in the wake of the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois|COVID-19 crisis]] affecting the Chicago area. The $15 million project was paid for by [[Federal Emergency Management Agency|FEMA]] and was scheduled for completion on April 30.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-mccormick-place-field-hospital-pritzker-chicago-20200331-qhhxhvgtovedbcyn5cgqlq73zi-story.html| title=Illinois tops 5,000 coronavirus cases as construction on a McCormick Place field hospital begins| first1=Stacy| last1=St. Clair| author2=Gregory Pratt| author3=Jamie Munks| newspaper=Chicago Tribune| date=March 30, 2020}}</ref>

In 2021, it was proposed to turn Lakeside Center into a Rivers Casino, as part of the [[Chicago Casino Proposals]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Byrne |first=Robert Channick, Dan Petrella, John |title=Chicago has five competing casino bids. Here's a look at what's proposed, and where. |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-chicago-casino-proposals-20211108-r3r4d4anw5d7zlgmoswcfpk4ca-story.html |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=chicagotribune.com|date=November 8, 2021 }}</ref>

In a move to help birds avoid colliding into its windows, McCormick Place Lakeside Center implemented a project in 2024 to make its windows more visible.<ref name="CSunTimes1">{{cite news |last1=Washburn |first1=Kaitlin |title=Bird-safe film installed on McCormick Place glass after mass collision killed 1,000 birds |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago/2024/09/24/mccormick-place-lakeside-center-completes-bird-safe-glass-project-in-time-for-fall-migration |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=24 September 2024}}</ref><ref name="ENR">{{cite news |last1=Mannion |first1=Annemarie |title=Chicago's Lakeside Center Installs $1.2M in Bird-Safe Film on Exterior Glass, Curtain Wall |url=https://www.enr.com/articles/59318-bird-safe-window-application-completed-at-chicagos-lakeside-center |work=Engineering News-Record |date=24 September 2024}}</ref> The project, which cost $1.2 million and took three months to complete, was initiated following an incident in 2023 when, on a single night at the height of the fall bird migration, nearly 1,000 birds collided into the building's windows and died.<ref name="CSunTimes2">{{cite news |last1=Washburn |first1=Kaitlin |title=About 1,000 birds killed after colliding into McCormick Place Lakeside Center in one ‘tragic,’ deadly night |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/10/6/23906778/birds-killed-migration-collision-mccormick-place-lakeside-center |access-date=29 September 2024 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=6 October 2023}}</ref> The modified windows are covered with an array of small white dots designed to be visible to birds. (The dots were applied to the building's existing windows on sheets of adhesive film; the film was later removed, leaving the dots in place.<ref name="ENR" />) According to the [[Field Museum of Natural History]], an analysis following the window modifications showed that the number of birds colliding with windows at the building during the fall migration season dropped by over 95% compared with migrations of previous years.<ref name="CST-2">{{cite news |last1=Washburn |first1=Kaitlin |title=Thousands of bird deaths averted at McCormick Place thanks to polka-dotted windows |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/environment/2025/01/08/bird-collisions-down-mccormick-place-environment |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=8 January 2025}}</ref> The windows at McCormick Place Lakeside Center, which make up most of the building's exterior, encompass an area of {{convert|120000|sqft|acres|sigfig=3}},<ref name="CST-2" /> roughly equivalent to two American football fields.<ref name="CSunTimes1" /><ref name="ENR" />