8/13/2002
Millennium Park’s new outdoor Music Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry, will have a state-of-the-art sound system designed to serve an audience of up to 11,000 under a contract approved today by the Public Building Commission of Chicago (PBC).
The $2.1 million sound system will be installed in Millennium Park’s music audience area by Encompass Electrical Technologies, officials said. Private donors will fund the cost of the sound system.
The Music Pavilion will serve as Millennium Park’s main band shell, with seating for 4,000 people and a 95,000-square-foot lawn that will accommodate an additional 7,000. The sound system will operate through a first-of-its-kind trellis network of speakers suspended overhead across the concert area.
Commissioners also approved another donor-funded project in the northwest corner of Millennium Park near the Peristyle, a semi-circle of Greek columns. Walsh Construction Company will carry out the Wrigley Square upgrades, officials said, which also will be funded by private donors.