Editing McCormick Place

{{Short description|Convention center in Chicago, Illinois, United States}}
{{Infobox Convention Center
| name = McCormick Place
| image = 01-McCormick-Place Logo-COLOR-copy-01.jpg
| image_size = 180px
| address = 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive
| location = [[Chicago, Illinois]]
| coordinates = {{coord|41|51|07|N|87|36|58|W|display=inline,title}}
| owner = [[Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority|MPEA]]
| built = 1958
| opened = {{start date and age|November 1960}}
| renovated = 
| expanded = 1986, 1996, 2007, 2017
| closed = 
| demolished = 
| construction_cost = $2 billion
| former_names = 
| banquets = 
| theatre = 4,250 ([[Arie Crown Theater]])
| total_space = 
| exhibit = {{cvt|2,670,000|sqft}}
| breakout = 
| ballroom = 
| publictransit = {{rint|Chicago|l}} {{rint|chicago|green}} at [[Cermak–McCormick Place station|Cermak–McCormick Place]]<br>{{rint|chicago|metra}} {{rint|chicago|me}} {{rint|nictd}} at [[McCormick Place station|McCormick Place]]
| parking = 3 lots, {{#expr: 2100<!--Lot A--> + 1800<!--Lot B--> + 1900<!--Lot C--> }} total spaces<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mccormickplace.com/attendees/getting-here.php| website=McCormick Place| title=Getting to McCormick Place| access-date=May 7, 2014}}</ref>
| website = {{URL|mccormickplace.com}}
}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2016}}

'''McCormick Place''' is a [[convention center]] in [[Chicago]]. It is the largest convention center in [[North America]].<ref>{{cite web| title=United States Convention Centers (250,000 - 2.5 Million Square Feet)| url=http://www.cvent.com/en/destination-guide/us-convention-centers-3m.shtml| access-date=March 23, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108084737/http://www.cvent.com/en/destination-guide/us-convention-centers-3m.shtml| archive-date=January 8, 2012| website=[[Cvent]]}}</ref> It consists of four interconnected buildings and one indoor arena sited on and near the shore of [[Lake Michigan]], about {{convert|1.0|mi|km|abbr=on}} south of the [[Chicago Loop]]. McCormick Place hosts numerous trade shows and meetings.  The largest regular events are the [[Chicago Auto Show]] each February, the [[International Home and Housewares Show]] each March, the [[National Restaurant Association]] Annual Show each May, and the [[International Manufacturing Technology Show]] in the fall every other year.

==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" />

==Additions==
The North Building, located west of [[Lake Shore Drive]] and completed in 1986, is connected to the East Building by an enclosed pedestrian bridge. In contrast to the dark, flat profile of the East Building, the North Building is white (as the original building was), with twelve concrete pylons on the roof which support the roof using 72 cables. The [[HVAC]] system for the building is incorporated into the pylons and give the building the appearance of a rigged sailing ship. The North Building has approximately {{convert|600000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} of main exhibition space.

The South Building, dedicated on December 12th, 1996, and designed by [[tvsdesign]], contains more than {{convert|1|e6sqft|m2|abbr=unit}} of exhibition space.  It more than doubled the space in the complex and made McCormick Place the largest convention center in the nation. The South Building was built on the former site of the McCormick Inn, a 25-story, 619-room hotel built in 1973 as part of the McCormick City complex and demolished in 1993 when ground was broken for the South Building.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://forgottenchicago.com/features/chicagos-shoreline-motels-south/| title=Chicago's Shoreline Motels – South| website=Forgotten Chicago| last=Steffes| first=Patrick| date=June 30, 2013| access-date=March 23, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.epsteinglobal.com/whats-new/2015/throwback-thursday-mccormick-inn| title=Throwback Thursday – McCormick Inn| date=January 22, 2015| website=EpsteinGlobal.com| access-date=2018-08-02}}</ref>{{Stack|
[[File:McCormick Place West Building View 27Nov07.JPG|thumb|right|McCormick Square flanked by the West Building (left) and Hyatt Regency Hotel]]
[[File:McCormick Place Grand Concourse 27Nov07.JPG|thumb|right|Grand concourse looking west in 2007]]
}}On August 2, 2007, McCormick Place officials opened yet another addition to the complex, the West Building, also designed by [[tvsdesign]] and costing $882 million and completed eight months ahead of schedule. The publicly financed West Building contains {{convert|470000|sqft}} of exhibit space, bringing McCormick Place's total existing exhibition space to {{convert|2.67|e6sqft|m2}}. The West Building also has {{convert|250000|sqft}} of meeting space, including 61 meeting rooms, as well as a {{convert|100000|sqft}} [[ballroom]], the size of a [[American football|football]] field and one of the largest ballrooms in the world.

McCormick Place continued to expand in October 2017 with the opening of [[Wintrust Arena]], a 10,387-seat arena situated on Cermak Road just north of the West Building. The new facility hosts [[DePaul University|DePaul Blue Demons]] [[DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball|men's]] and [[DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball|women's]] [[college basketball]], and the [[WNBA]]'s [[Chicago Sky]]. The new arena boasts 22 suites, 479 club seats, and 2 VIP lounges. The arena is also equipped to host concerts, sporting events, meetings, and conventions in conjunction with the rest of the McCormick Place complex.<ref name="ArenaDigest.com">{{cite web |url=https://arenadigest.com/2016/11/17/new-for-2017-18-wintrust-arena/ |title=New for 2017-18: Wintrust Arena |publisher=ArenaDigest.com |date=November 17, 2016 |access-date=March 23, 2020}}</ref> Sporting events such as gymnastics and volleyball are also held in the McCormick Place buildings in addition to the arena.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.mccormickplace.com/events.php| title=Events| website=McCormick Place| date=March 14, 2018| access-date=March 23, 2020}}</ref>

Archival materials are held by the [[Ryerson & Burnham|Ryerson & Burnham Libraries]] at the [[Art Institute of Chicago]]. The McCormick Place on the Lake 1971 Collection includes photographs, drawings and project files documenting its construction.

South of the center is McCormick Place Bird Sanctuary, created in 2003.<ref name="CCBS">{{cite web| url=http://www.choosechicago.com/articles/view/BIRD-SANCTUARIES/330/| title=Bird Sanctuaries – Things to See & Do| website=Choose Chicago| access-date=May 16, 2014}}</ref> The northern end includes a recreated prairie, covering the roof of the center's underground carpark, and so requiring the use of shallow-rooted plants.<ref name="CCBS" />

==Public transit==
McCormick Place is served by the [[Chicago Transit Authority]]'s bus and [[Chicago "L"|"L"]] (rapid transit) systems; by [[Metra]], Chicago's [[commuter rail]] network; and by the [[South Shore Line]], an [[interurban]] passenger rail service that runs between Chicago and [[South Bend, Indiana]].

[[Metra Electric District|Metra Electric]] trains—which run between the [[Chicago Loop|Loop]] and points south—stop at an [[McCormick Place station|eponymous station]] underneath McCormick Place.<ref>{{cite web |title=Public Transportation |url=https://www.mccormickplace.com/getting-here/public-transportation/ |website=McCormick Place, Chicago |date=May 31, 2018 |access-date=28 May 2024}}</ref> South Shore trains also stop here, but only during special events, and will not board northbound nor discharge southbound passengers due to a [[non-compete clause|non-compete agreement]] with Metra.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mysouthshoreline.com/images/ADA-Accessibility-.pdf|title=ADA Accessibility|publisher=Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District|access-date=26 December 2019}}</ref>

At the street level, CTA's no. 3 and no. 21 bus routes—which run north-south and east-west through the [[South Side (Chicago)|South]] and Southwest Sides, respectively—serve McCormick directly. [[Cermak–McCormick Place station|Cermak–McCormick Place]], a station on the "L"'s [[Green Line (CTA)|Green Line]], lies two blocks west of the convention center's westernmost entrance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Public Transportation |url=https://www.mccormickplace.com/getting-here/public-transportation/ |website=McCormick Place, Chicago |date=May 31, 2018 |access-date=28 May 2024}}</ref>

==Busway==

The McCormick Place [[Bus lane|Busway]] runs {{convert|2.5|mi}} from Lower Randolph between Michigan and Columbus in downtown Chicago to the center.  It uses the lower levels of the [[multilevel streets in Chicago|multilevel streets]] near downtown, and surfaces to follow the [[Metra Electric District]] right-of-way to outside the South Building of McCormick Place.  Opened in 2002 at a cost of $43 million, it is meant to provide a true and unencumbered expressway for visitors to move between downtown hotels and the convention center, but is also used by buses for [[Soldier Field]] events, public safety workers, [[Metra]], convention contractors, and [[Art Institute of Chicago|Art Institute]] deliveries, along with providing a secure route for national and international government officials to utilize between the two points. It is not necessarily restricted only to buses, despite its name.<ref name="npr">{{cite episode| url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=205220968| title=Bat Cave' Road In Chicago Accessible To Only A Few| last=Corley| first=Cheryl| series=[[All Things Considered]]| network=[[NPR]]| air-date=July 24, 2013}}</ref><ref name="suntimes">{{cite news| url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2016/8/30/18464682/five-ways-cash-and-power-can-help-you-beat-the-crowds-in-chicago| work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]| title=Five ways cash and power can help you beat the crowds in Chicago| date=August 30, 2016}}</ref>  It is also known as the "Mayor's Road" (as it runs to [[Maggie Daley Park]], which was named in memoriam for mayor [[Richard M. Daley]]'s wife), the "[[Bat Cave]]", the "Magic Road"<ref name="npr" /> and a "secret road".<ref name="yelp">{{cite web| title=McCormick Place Busway| url=http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/mccormick-place-busway-chicago?select=53dXV2NmNHw7T7jnUH7jLw#rYgDNas_oAKBnzROAe0uDw| date=May 30, 2013| website=[[Yelp]]}}</ref>  Road use is administered by the Chicago OEMC (Office of Emergency Management and Communications), and regular users are granted access cards.<ref name="suntimes"/>  The convention center advertises the road as a benefit to potential customers.<ref name="npr" /><ref name="suntimes" />

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Image:20070110 McCormick Place (1).JPG|South Building from Lake Shore Drive looking northwest in 2007
Image:20070110 McCormick Place (4).JPG|West Building looking northwest from King Drive and 24th Place in 2007
Image:20070110 McCormick Place (3).JPG|West Building looking southeast from Indiana and Cermak (22nd St) in 2007
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority]]
* [[List of convention centers in the United States]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|McCormick Place}}
*[http://www.mccormickplace.com/ McCormick Place]
*[http://www.mpea.com/ Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority]

[[Category:McCormick Place| ]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Chicago]]
[[Category:Convention centers in Illinois]]
[[Category:Event venues established in 1960]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Chicago]]
[[Category:Gymnastics venues in Chicago]]
[[Category:Volleyball venues in Chicago]]