Millennium Park opens
Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

July 16, 2004

The park was completed behind schedule and overbudget, but no one quibbles about that today. Graced by bold works of public art — Anish Kapoor’s 2006 Cloud Gate would be given pride of place — and the gleaming sail-like superstructure of Frank Gehry’s concert pavilion, it immediately drew locals and tourists by the thousands, and practically overnight became the spiritual and cultural nucleus of the city.