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In addition to its abundant plant life, in spring and fall the Lurie Garden is a popular rest stop for migrating birds. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBIN CARLSON WORLD CLASS MILLENNIUM PARK IS A KEY TO INCREASING CHICAGO'S STATUS AS A HOT INTERNA- TIONAL TOURIST DESTINATION. A s Mayor E ma nuel t r ies to increa se Ch icago's ra nk a s a tou r ist dest inat ion (currently it's ninth in the US) and boost its number of annual visitors to 55 million by 2020, he says he sees Millennium Park as "a hub to that process." But while visitors are important, adds Gilfoyle, it's also about making Chicago a more desirable place to live, attracting millennials and people in their 30s, especially those in the tech indus- t r y, who wa nt urba n liv ing w it h cultura l amenities. Millennium Park "is more than just a cultural statement and piece of art," he says. "It [has] an economic function." To accomplish t hat mea ns spending money. Building the park took $484 million, with $222 million raised from more than 100 individuals, foundations, and corpora- tions, according to Gilfoyle's book. That's in addition to the $29.5 million in short-term loans that the city took out between 2005 and 2011 to operate the park, and the $6.195 mil- lion the city has budgeted for 2014 for that same purpose, according to Rodriguez. But despite t he heft y pr ice t ag, t he suc- cess of Millennium Park as a free gathering place for visitors and locals alike has been undeniable. "It incorporates all that's great about Ch icago a nd rea lly ha s joined t he cit y's ot her iconic g reat a sset s," says Desiree Rogers, chair of Choose Chicago, t he cit y's tou r ism ma rket ing a r m. Adds Br ya n, "It is a ll we imag ined it would be in def ining Ch icago to t he world." A nd Cindy Pritzker puts it even more simply in summing up t he ult imate appea l of t his urban oasis: "It's the people's park." MA 10 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 129