In 1917, Edward Bennett(Daniel Burnham's partner in writing the Plan of Chicago and the eventual designer of the Buckingham Fountain) designed a peristyle that was located on the corner of Michigan and Randolph(right across the street from the library, as well as right next to the downtown terminus for the Illinois Central Railroad). This was designed in the style of the Ancient Roman tradition of building a fence-like enclosure of columns to surround a garden or some other additional element to their homes. However, the Chicago peristyle was constructed using concrete, which turned out to be a major drawback. Concrete can be quite susceptible to the elements, and therefore putting a concrete object on the lakefront will damage said object over time because of the lakefront weather. A combination of the deterioration of the peristyle and the need to build a new parking garage underneath Grant Park led to the razing of the peristyle in 1953.
Fast forward 50 years, and construction is underway for Millennium Park. In addition to covering up a the scar of the train yards with parkland and a train station, several different installations were needed to occupy the park. It was at this point that O'Donnell, Wicklund, Pigozzi and Peterson Architects, Inc. stepped in and designed an almost-exact replica of the 1917 peristyle. Dedicated in 2002, this structure pays tribute to the donors who helped make the park possible via inscriptions at the base of the columns. Additionally, this time the structure was made out of limestone, so this means that the Millennium Monument(along with The Bean and Crown Fountain) will be around to greet many more generations of visitors to Chicago.
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