Navy Pier, Tourist attraction and shopping district in Chicago, United States
Navy Pier is a long pier on the shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago, reaching out over the water for the length of several city blocks. Along its walkways you find shops, restaurants, event halls, and attractions including the Centennial Wheel, a large Ferris wheel that rises about 200 feet (60 meters) above the water.
Navy Pier opened in 1916 as a freight and passenger terminal on Lake Michigan, handling ships that moved goods and people across the water. Over the following decades it gradually shifted away from transportation, and by 1995 it had been fully redeveloped into a public attraction.
Navy Pier is a gathering point for Chicagoans, who come for concerts, art shows, and community festivals throughout the year. The Chicago Shakespeare Theater, located on the pier, stages plays and musicals on a flexible stage design that shifts shape depending on the production.
Navy Pier is walkable from downtown Chicago along the lakefront path, and buses and bike-share stations stop close to the entrance at Polk Bros Park. On summer weekends and during evening events it gets very crowded, so arriving earlier in the day gives you more room to move around.
The Centennial Wheel, inaugurated in 2016 for the pier's 100th anniversary, replaced an older Ferris wheel that was itself a replica of the very first Ferris wheel, which debuted at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. That original wheel was invented right there in the city, so the current ride carries on a connection that goes back over a century.
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