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September 19



If superstar California architect Frank Gehry ever thought that designing a bandshell and pedestrian bridge in Chicago's Millennium Park would be a walk through the park, he certainly knows better now.

Gehry's bandshell plan encountered little opposition when it was made public last fall, but his bridge proposal has run into a roadblock raised by Chicago's most influential architecture critic -Mayor Richard M. Daley.

The design, under wraps for months but unveiled in a new exhibition, calls for a snaking span that would cross heavily trafficked Columbus Drive midway between Randolph and Monroe Streets. Its tilting sides would be clad in stainless steel, the same material that will cover the bandshell. And it would be roughly 800 to 900 feet long - too big, according to the mayor.

"He doesn't want the focus of the park to be the bridge," says Daley's press secretary, Jacqueline Heard. "He wants it to be the park stage area itself. There's some concern that the bridge may be something that overshadows the park."

Daley's displeasure is a disappointment to Gehry, renowned for his Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and other innovative structures. The architect flew to Chicago in March to lobby the mayor on behalf of his pedestrian bridge - only to learn in recent weeks that his effort was unsuccessful.

"I've designed 10 new ones since I heard he doesn't like it," Gehry said in a telephone interview from his office in Santa Monica, Calif.

The bridge flap is the latest example of Daley's involvement in aesthetic issues that other mayors typically delegate to aides. Daley personally reviews major building projects, and his passion for beautification has resulted in a string of initiatives -- fountains, flowers, trees and median planter boxes -- that make both the city and the mayor look good.

Despite Daley's reservations about the bridge, a model of it appears in a city-sponsored exhibition about Millennium Park that opened June 10 at the Chicago Cultural Center -- perhaps as a way to get the mayor, who has seen photographs of Gehry's model, but not the model itself, to change his mind.

"I looked at the model and it didn't look too big to me," said Lois Weisberg, the city's cultural affairs commissioner, whose department is one of the sponsors of the exhibition. If Daley inspects it, she said, "I'm positive he will feel differently."

Plagued by rising costs, the $270 million Millennium Park is being built in the northwest corner of Grant Park over working railroad tracks and an area that formerly was a surface parking lot. The park is to include 2,400 underground parking spaces.

Above them will be 24 acres of parkland that incorporates Gehry's bandshell and a large, trellislike structure, also designed by the architect. The trellis is to be equipped with speakers, which will rise over an outdoor seating area for 11,000 people.

The pedestrian bridge is supposed to link Millennium Park with another section of Grant Park, Daley Bicentennial Plaza, just to its east. They are now separated by a trenchlike portion of Columbus Drive, about 150 feet wide, where speeding cars create an intimidating environment for pedestrians.

The idea is to make it easier for those on foot to reach the lakefront. But just how to do that -- while also meeting federal requirements that mandate access for people with disabilities and making the bridge high enough for trucks to pass below -- is a matter of contention.

Gehry and city officials familiar with his design say that its unconventional geometry has not added significantly to its length.

A more conventional design would be just as long, they insist, because the bridge must slope gradually to enable those in wheelchairs and others with disabilities to comfortably use it.

"If you make a plain-Jane bridge that was done by the parks department, it would take up all that space," Gehry said. He added: "I don't think it can get much smaller. Maybe it can be perceived as smaller."

His bridge is unusual not only because of its curves but also because it uses side walls instead of railings to protect pedestrians.

The bridge also has a continuous slope rather than landings and switchback ramps.

It would be about 15 feet wide, according to city officials familiar with the design.

Despite its unusual shape, the design appears to have practical benefits.

The curving portion of the bridge near the Millennium Park trellis would create a berm that would shield concertgoers from the sound and sight of rushing cars on Columbus. In addition, the bridge would have a lightweight structure, meaning that it would not require new structural supports in either the new Millennium Park garage or the Monroe Street garage across Columbus.

Gehry could face opposition because the bridge, as currently designed, would force pedestrians to take a meandering route. But he said he would be open to the possibility of inserting stairs at certain points in the bridge to give people the option of a pathway that is more direct. Stairs also could relieve crowds that might gather on the bridge.

The cost of the bridge is not known, though it is expected to be less than the bandshell's price of $15 million.

Sir John Browne, chief executive officer of BP Amoco PLC, announced in a speech in March that his company would be the chief sponsor of the bridge. BP Amoco will donate $5 million to the bridge, a Millennium Park spokesman said Wednesday.

In addition, she said, the McCormick Tribune Foundation will contribute $5 million for a Millennium Park ice skating rink along Michigan Avenue.

Gehry is scheduled to be in Chicago on July 11, when he could have another meeting with Daley about the bridge.

Heard said the mayor is "not closing the door on this bridge" and remains open to compromise.

Gehry is taking the same stance. Speaking of Daley, he said: "I'm anxious to do what he wants. He's the mayor. I have no qualms about redoing it."

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