Protected by legislation that has been affirmed by four previous Illinois Supreme Court rulings, Grant Park has been "forever open, clear and free" since 1836,[REF][REF][REF] which was a year before the city of Chicago was incorporated [REF].
In 1972, plans were in place to build a C. F. Murphy Associates-designed $31 million ($ million) concrete-and-fiberglass band shell atop a new underground parking garage, but community groups defended the Ward restrictions, which necessitated the less expensive demountable band shell in at Butler Field [REF].