Lansdowne Park looks like it’s going to be boring.
At least that’s the impression Ed Uhlir, the director of design for Chicago’s Millennium Park Project, got after looking at the proposed plans for the area.
“Parks have to be fun and I didn’t see that aspect in the plan that I saw,” Uhlir said yesterday during a visit to Ottawa.
Since it opened in 2004, the $475-million, 24.5-acre public space in downtown Chicago has become a global landmark, with well-known features like the Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion and the giant mirrored bean sculpture, Cloud Gate, by Anish Kapoor.
“You don’t have to spend the kind money of we spent on Millennium Park,” he said.
As people became more excited about the project, more private donors came forward with money, which meant the scale of the project grew.
Millennium Park elevated Chicago’s standing as a global city, Uhlir said.
The plan for Lansdowne hardly rates as a regional destination, he said.
