Museum Campus

The Near South Side is a community area of Chicago, situated just South of Downtown/Chicago Loop. In Midtown Madness, it constitutes the southernmost district of Chicago, and also encompasses Museum Campus. Scattered along Lake Shore Drive, the Near South Side contains some of Chicago's most famous landmarks, including Soldier Field, McCormick Place, the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, the Adler Planetarium, and Meigs Field.

History
The area close to the lakefront (including Burnham Park and Meigs Field) was built on former reclaimed land, through landfill use in the 1920s and the 1930s, along Lake Michigan. The Field Museum, Soldier Field, the Adler Planetarium, and the Shedd Aquarium were built on the expanded land at this time, aswell as Meigs Field which was built later, in the 1940s. A narrow isthmus along Solidarity Drive connects Meigs Field to Museum Campus.

The Adler Planetarium, Field Museum of Natural History, Shedd Aquarium and Soldier Field holds a significant historical relevance in the area, and are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Museum Campus
The Near South Side notably comprises the Museum Campus, a 57-acre park bordering Lake Michigan that encompasses five of Chicago's most notable attractions : the Adler Planetarium (the first planetarium in the US), the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, Soldier Field (home of the NFL Chicago Bears football team), and McCormick Place.

Trivia

 * Interestingly, though the game was released in 1999, the segment of Lake Shore Drive in this area still follows the pre-1996 layout (i.e the road runs East of Soldier Field). After 1996, the northbound lane of Lake Shore Drive was moved West of Soldier Field, thus enabling the formal creation of Museum Campus in 1998).