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The Exelon Pavilions are four buildings that generate electricity from solar energy and provide access to underground parking in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The Northeast Exelon Pavilion and Northwest Exelon Pavilion (jointly the North Exelon Pavilions) are located on the northern edge of the park along Randolph Street, and flank the Harris Theater. The Southeast Exelon Pavilion and Southwest Exelon Pavilion (jointly the South Exelon Pavilions) are located on the southern edge of the park along Monroe Street, and flank the Lurie Garden. Together the pavilions generate of electricity annually,〔 worth about $2,350 per year.〔 The four pavilions, which cost ,〔 were designed in ; construction began in . The South Pavilions were completed and opened in , while the North Pavilions were completed in , with a grand opening on , 2005. In addition to producing energy, three of the four pavilions provide access to the parking garages below the park, while the fourth serves as the park's welcome center and office.〔 Exelon, a company that generates the electricity transmitted by its subsidiary Commonwealth Edison, donated $5.5 million for the pavilions.〔 ''Chicago Tribune'' architecture critic Blair Kamin praised the South Pavilions as "minor modernist jewels", but criticized the North Pavilions as "nearly all black and impenetrable".〔 The North Pavilions have received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver rating from the United States Green Building Council, as well as an award from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).〔 ==Background== Lying between Lake Michigan to the east and the Loop to the west, Grant Park has been Chicago's front yard since the mid-19th century. Its northwest corner, north of Monroe Street and the Art Institute, east of Michigan Avenue, south of Randolph Street, and west of Columbus Drive, had been Illinois Central rail yards and parking lots until 1997, when it was made available for development by the city as Millennium Park. As of 2009, Millennium Park trailed only Navy Pier as a Chicago tourist attraction. In 1836, a year before Chicago was incorporated,〔Macaluso, pp. 12–13〕 the Board of Canal Commissioners held public auctions for the city's first lots. Citizens with the foresight to keep the lakefront as public open space convinced the commissioners to designate the land east of Michigan Avenue between Randolph Street and Park Row (11th Street) "Public Ground—A Common to Remain Forever Open, Clear and Free of Any Buildings, or Other Obstruction, whatever."〔Gilfoyle, pp. 3–4〕 Grant Park has been "forever open, clear and free" since, protected by legislation that has been affirmed by four previous Illinois Supreme Court rulings. In 1839, United States Secretary of War Joel Roberts Poinsett decommissioned the Fort Dearborn reserve and declared the land between Randolph Street and Madison Street east of Michigan Avenue "Public Ground forever to remain vacant of buildings".〔 Aaron Montgomery Ward, who is known both as the inventor of mail order and the protector of Grant Park, twice sued the city of Chicago to force it to remove buildings and structures from Grant Park, and to keep it from building new ones.〔Macaluso, pp. 23–25〕 In 1890, arguing that Michigan Avenue property owners held easements on the park land, Ward commenced legal actions to keep the park free of new buildings. In 1900, the Illinois Supreme Court concluded that all landfill east of Michigan Avenue was subject to dedications and easements. In 1909, when he sought to prevent the construction of the Field Museum of Natural History in the center of the park, the courts affirmed his arguments and the museum was built elsewhere.〔Gilfoyle, p. 16〕〔; ; and 〕〔Ward chose not to challenge the Art Institute of Chicago building in the park. For an overview of the legal cases involving Grant Park and structures within it, please see: .〕 As a result, the city has what are termed the Montgomery Ward height restrictions on buildings and structures in Grant Park; structures over tall are not allowed in the park, with the exception of bandshells.〔Flanagan, p. 141.〕 However, within Millennium Park, the ''Crown Fountain'' and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion were exempt from the height restrictions, because they were classified as works of art and not buildings or structures. Shorter structures do not run afoul of the height restrictions. The Harris Theater, which lies between the North Pavilions, was built mostly underground to avoid the restrictions.〔Gilfoyle, p. 181〕 The Northwest Pavilion, tallest of the four, is three stories high; the Northeast Pavilion is two stories, and the South Pavilions are each one story.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Exelon Pavilions」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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