Chicago Plan Commission approves new hotel, elevated walkway at Navy Pier

The underused east end of Navy Pier would come to life with an elevated walkway and reflecting pool under a new chapter of the pier's centennial makeover advanced Thursday.

The Chicago Plan Commission also signed off on a seven-story, 240-room hotel, a seasonal ice-skating rink within the footprint of the fountain and surrounding lawn, a sloped-roof welcome pavilion with 4,000 square feet of cafe, retail, cultural and recreation space and short-term boat docking facilities on the north side of the pier.

The hotel is expected to come first, along the pier's south dock. The rest of the improvements will depend on the generosity of private donors.

Plan Commission members were told Thursday that a $20 million gift from the Polk Bros. Foundation that bankrolled a new park at the entrance of Navy Pier and other elements of the phase-one makeover provides "great momentum" for the "very aggressive" fundraising campaign ahead.

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