Blog

By Ellen Shubart, Class of 2006

The new century began when George W. Bush was sworn in as President of the United States in January 2001, succeeding Bill Clinton. But everything changed after September 11, when al Qaeda terrorists aboard three hijacked passenger planes carried out coordinated suicide attacks against the World Trade Center in New York City  and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Everyone on board the planes were killed as were nearly 3,000 people on the ground. A fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers and crew attempted to wrest control from the hijackers, killing all on board.

It was a decade of concern about politics, potential attacks, and anti-war demonstrations. The War on Terror and the war in Afghanistan began following the September 11 attack; they did not end until another two decades had passed.

Climate change and global warming became common concerns in the 2000s. Despite action and promises of action, the global temperature kept climbing during the decade.

What’s Goin’ On

In popular culture, the use of computer-generated imagery became more widespread in films, especially with the success of 2001’s Shrek. Anime films gained more exposure outside Japan with the release of Spirited Away. December 2009’s Avatar became the highest-grossing film for nearly a decade, until 2019. Documentary and mockumentary films like March of the Penguins, Super Size Me, Borat, and Surf’s Up were popular in the 2000s. In 2004, Fahrenheit 9/11, directed by Michael Moore, was the highest-grossing documentary of all time.

As the decade went on, fashion took its cue from the 1960s bohemian look. Yoga pants, low-rise jeans, track suits, peasant tops, capri pants, cropped jackets, and dresses over jeans were popular choices for women. Crochet, maxi skirts, colorful clothes, and prints were a must.

Food choices favored bacon in all forms, particularly crispy brown, and sugar-glazed cupcakes. Mini-cakes, fruit smoothies, watermelon and feta salad (still a popular item today); and cake pops all gained popularity.

Through the Decade

At the same time, CAF continued to grow. As the new century opened, Chicago’s First Lady added a second boat to the River Cruise schedule. It was the beginning of the long-term relationship that saw the growth of the fleet, increasing the cruise schedule and the number of docents trained for the tour. The River Cruise became the number-one revenue line for CAF.

At the same time the new City Space Gallery opened at 224 South Michigan Avenue. Among the first exhibits was the Chicago Bungalow display in 2001.

In 2002, CAF designed a new logo that no longer used the entrance to Glessner House as its symbol. This new logo emphasized the “C” of the word “Chicago”. Red and black were the colors for the new branding.

To ensure excellence in tour-giving, peer review was instituted in 2005. Docents not only trained each other to give tours, but also evaluated one another’s performance.

A new mission statement was adopted in 2006: “The Chicago Architecture Foundation is dedicated to advancing public interest and education in architecture and related design.” Seventy-eight different tours were offered along with listening devices introduced for downtown walking tours. Foreign language tours in French, Spanish, German, and Japanese were offered via taped tours. In the same year, Chicago’s First Lady Fleet added a third boat.

In the middle of the decade, docent and tour director Evelyn Goltz created and trained docents for a student tour titled Structure: The Secret of Skyscrapers. It was the beginning of the long-term commitment to student education and the forerunner of today’s student field trips.

Many other new tours were created between 2003 and 2006, many following the results of a docent survey written and analyzed by Robin Simon, class of 1997. Downtown Deco, Treasures of Culture and Commerce were offered along with noontime building tours, including the Reliance Building.

Millennium Park opened in 2004, and Linda Marcus wrote the Millennium Park Revealed tour, sharing all the “secrets” of construction. And mid-decade brought the development of the bus-and-walking tour, Devil in the White City.

In 2008, a total of 240,000 people took CAF’s tours . The numbers continued to increase, particularly after 2009 when the large city model opened in the Santa Fe atrium. Originally planned as a temporary exhibit, the model proved so popular it became permanent. Biannual additions and subtractions to the model parallel changes to the city skyline.

By 2010, an Elevated Architecture tour was launched in partnership with city, riding tour-takers around the Loop. It was the godfather of today’s Elevated Architecture tour, a single loop circuit with stops at various stations.

A social media campaign, the “85 tours Challenge,” was launched by Jennifer Lucente, who took all 85 tours in one year, 2016. Following completion of the last tour, docents and staff celebrated at the Chicago Theater.

In 2009, the Myra Gary Award for Tour Development was endowed by Myra’s husband, Jim Gary, to honor the life of his late wife. Myra was instrumental in the development of many of the tours of the decade, but particularly Treasures of Culture and Commerce. The award annually recognizes a docent’s excellence in development of a new tour.

Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States in 2009, becoming the nation’s first African American president. CAC would soon move into our most recent decade, one of momentous change.