Boxed in by some of the most prominent streets in the Chicago area, Michigan Avenue to the west, Lake Shore Drive to the east, Randolph St. to the north and Roosevelt Rd. to the south, if downtown Chicago were a schoolhouse for the city’s businessmen and women, Grant Park would be the playground on which they spent their recess hour. Grant Park has helped to shape the vibrant social life of the Second City since its early days as “Lake Park” back in 1844. Rechristened as Grant Park at the turn of the century, in honor of heroic Civil War General and later the 18^th President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant, the park soon saw widespread improvement and expansion throughout the early part of the 20^th century, as the park’s boundaries were increased to take over former landfills and its grounds were augmented by buildings of cultural and academic value, such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Adler Planetarium, the Field Museum of Natural History and the Shedd Aquarium.More than just a place to sit in the sun and a selection of live music at one of the park’s numerous concert series, Grant Park has been home to numerous historic events that have helped paint the picture of American society and politics as we know it today. Most recently, Barack Obama, at the time just the President-elect, chose Grant Park as the location for his official 2008 victory speech. A crowd of close to a quarter million people crammed into the park for what many consider to be the most highly anticipated post-election address in U.S. history. Grant Park has also served as the backdrop to a visit from the pope in 1979, the Chicago Bulls 6 NBA Championship celebrations throughout the 90′s, and large scale civil demonstrations in the 60′s.