From 1852 until 1997 , the Illinois Central Railroad owned a right of way between downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan , in the area that became Grant Park and used it for railroad tracks . In 1871 , Union Base-Ball Grounds was built on part of the site that became Millennium Park ; the Chicago White Stockings played home games there until the grounds were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire . Lake Front Park , the White Stockings ' new ball grounds , was built in 1878 with a short right field due to the railroad tracks . The grounds were improved and the seating capacity was doubled in 1883 , but the team had to move after the season ended the next year , as the federal government had given the city the land " with the stipulation that no commercial venture could use it " . Daniel Burnham planned Grant Park around the Illinois Central Railroad property in his 1909 Plan of Chicago . In 1997 , when the city gained airspace rights over the tracks , it decided to build a parking facility over them in the northwestern corner of Grant Park . Eventually , the city realized that a grand civic amenity might lure private dollars in a way that a municipal improvement would not , and thus began the effort to create Millennium Park . The park was originally planned under the name Lakefront Millennium Park
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Millennium Park