Navy Pier’s Private Practice
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The pier authority then decided that the best way to deal with the parking problem was to make it somebody else’s headache. Right away parking companies started lining up to take advantage of the lucrative nuisance, and Devonna says the field of candidates was narrowed to four firms after open bidding. Standard Parking eventually won the contract, and one of its first moves was to sharply increase parking fees. The pier authority had charged a flat rate of $8, but the new rates start at $6 for an hour or less, then rise to $10 for up to three hours, and top out at $16 for a complete day. Visitors who plan on spending at least $25 in one of the pier’s restaurants, however, can use a valet service for $7. Steep as they are, the new prices undoubtedly will discourage more visitors from parking at the pier. “We didn’t want the pier lot to become a haven for commuters either,” says Devonna. Standard Parking plans to streamline the operation in order to better monitor the number of available parking spaces. Signs will soon go up at key approaches to the pier notifying drivers if the lot is full. Devonna says that in the past these signs weren’t posted until the entrance to the parking lot, and many times the signs were up when there were numerous open spaces still inside. When the lot is full, Standard will operate shuttle buses to and from remote parking areas.
Navy Pier’s IMAX theater may become a more popular attraction now that it’s been taken over by Cineplex Odeon. Devonna is convinced the company’s “dominant presence” in the Chicago market will be useful in marketing the IMAX to the broadest possible audience. Promotional trailers will be shown at Cineplex Odeon theaters in the city and suburbs touting new 3-D movies at the pier’s IMAX theater, and the chain’s newspaper ads have already started to mention the current offering, Wings of Courage, a drama about French aviators making the first airmail flights into the Andes Mountains. But admission prices are higher. Prior to the arrival of 3-D, tickets to the Navy Pier IMAX cost $6.50 for adults and $4.50 for children. The new price is $8 for adults and $5.50 for kids.
Star Crossed
