So I had three nice days in Chicago as a side short vacation from a business trip in Atlanta. By the third day, I felt it’s just time to go home. I was getting home sick. No matter how exciting vacation are, ultimately I yearn for my own bed and my own pillows. I needed home cooked food.
The last touristy thing I did was made a visit to the Centennial Fountain.
Anyone walking past this fountain would have just dismissed this as a nice big fountain but I thought this is a well designed and well thought out one. It speaks so much about Chicago River and how it had a positive impact to the quality of life in the city.
Located in the north side of the Chicago River shortly before it connects to Lake Michigan, this place is called The Centennial Plaza and Fountain. It is built in 1989 to commemorate the 100th year anniversary of the completion of the reversal of the Chicago River.
The Chicago River used to flow into the Lake Michigan, bringing along it sewage and contaminating the lake. As the city grew, this became more of a problem as it poluted the drinking water and caused diseases.
So a massive engineering project was carried out to reverse the flow of the river away from the Lake Michigan and into the Mississippi River.
The Centennial Fountain shoots a water arc across the Chicago River every hour from …
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Chicago: And Lastly … The Centennial Fountain (203 words)
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Post tags: Chicago, Vacation
