Have you ever wondered what you would do if you were to invest in a large scale project with a specific purpose, only to have the world change during the time you were building the project? Many an architect in Canada has studied cases all over the world where this has happened, but perhaps none has had quite the successful comeback as Navy Pier, in one of the most visited zip codes in Chicago.

Navy Pier was built in 1912, before the highway and the automobile were common sites all over America. The pier was designed to help facilitate the heavy trade which happened on Lake Michigan during this time, when major waterways were the only feasible means of transportation mass or otherwise. Any lawyer in Ontario or other educated person would have thought the massive project was a brilliant plan, destined for huge success.

Navy Pier never did end up being used for that first purpose, though. The people who made corporate event planning in Toronto and other areas possible quickly realized that asphalt and the combustible engine made trade much more economical, and broader, than water routes ever could. The trade on the lake began to die, and with it the financial dreams of the original developers of Navy Pier.

The builders were able to reclaim some of the money they sank into the pier, thanks to the second World War. It was an ideal location for naval training programs, and the navy leased the pier for its recruits and gave the area a new name as well. After the war, the area served as an educational area for returning veterans, which also helped to extend its life.

Even during its use by the navy and as a freight drop, Navy Pier had begun to show signs of what it would become. It was a major attractant for local outings, built out onto the lake as it was. People could ignore the fact that they had to drive by industrial yards filled with central heating boilers and other equipment because they knew green space awaited them at the end. However, for a period of four decades people stopped going to Navy Pier, and the area began to get very run down.

Then the age of new thinking and redevelopment hit in the 1990s, and suddenly the Pier started to become what it is today, a major tourist attraction. Septic tank pump trucks began to service the facilities which now included amusement parks, museums, and some of the few remaining green areas of Chicago.