Grant Park

Grant Park is a urban park located in the Downtown Area of Chicago.

Overview
The Buckingham Fountain, one of the world's largest fountains, forms the centerpiece of Grant Park. Dedicated in 1927, the fountain was built in a rococo wedding cake style, and was gifted to the City of Chicago by American philanthropist Kates Sturges Buckingham, in memory of her brother Clarence.

Chicago's Museum Campus is a 57-acre (23 ha) addition to Grant Park's southeastern end. The area is home to three of the most renowned city's museum, all dedicated to the natural sciences : Adler Planetarium, Field Museum, and Shedd Aquarium. A narrow isthmus along Solidarity Drive connects the mainland to the Meigs Field Airport, and to the nearby Adler Planetarium.

The park hosts some of Chicago's biggest festivals and events, including Taste of Chicago (a large food and music festival held each summer), the Chicago Jazz Festival, and the Chicago Blues Festival.

History
The land on which sits Grant Park was designated a park on April 29, 1844 roughly at the same time of the city's foundation. Initially known as Lake Park, it took its current name on October 9, 1901 to commemorate former American Civil War general and United States president Ulysses S. Grant.

Originally envisioned as an area free of any constructions, attempts were made in the 19th century to bypass the restrictions, leading to several legal disputes. The various buildings built on the site during this time period included a post office, an exposition center, an armory, and even an early home field of the baseball club now known as the Chicago Cubs. A plan drafted in 1904, by the Olmsted Brothers landscape architectural firm, advised to set the Field Museum as the park's centerpiece, an idea that made its way into Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett's 1909 Plan of Chicago. In response, renowned Chicagoan entrepreneur Aaron Montgomery Ward waged four court battles - despite the opposition of almost all civic leaders - hence repeling any attempts at building on the park grounds (with the exception of the Art Institute Of Chicago, which was built in 1892, with the agreement of Aaron M. Ward).

Grant Park was further expanded on landfill excavated by the Chicago Tunnel Company works, and was embellished by a very formal landscape devised by Edward Bennett. More landfill in the 1910s and 1920s provided sites for the Adler Planetarium, Field Museum of Natural History, and Shedd Aquarium (which were linked together as the Museum Campus in 1998). The park also saw heavy protests and fierce clashes between Chicago Police and demonstrators during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.