Blog

By Ellen Shubart, Class of 2006

Editor’s note: Each month in 2022, The Bridge will feature a story relating to one of our core tours. This is the first, telling the story of how “Must-See Chicago” has changed over the decade.

Must-See Chicago, one of CAC’s 13 core tours, was originally established as “the” introductory tour for those unfamiliar with Chicago, those who are not architecture buffs, those who have a short time in the city, and those who seek a broad overview of its most famous sites. It was designed for a younger-than-usual audience, with a fast pace, quick stops and lots of photo ops.

Originally, the tour included the Willis Tower, the Art Institute, one L ride and another on the subway, and the Water Tower. It began at 224 S. Michigan Avenue and ended at Chicago and Michigan Avenues. Docents returned GTS equipment back to 224.

After only a few years, the tour changed when CAC moved to its new home at 111 E. Wacker Drive. The tour was rewritten and refocused on Chicago icons and their styles – starting with the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower’s romantic historicity, to Illinois Center’s Modernism,  and Aqua’s contemporary design by a woman architect. It still included an L ride around the Loop, and, pardon the pun, looped in the Riverwalk on the way back to 111 E. Wacker Drive.

But then the tour changed again when the initial surge of the COVID pandemic halted all travel on the L. Instead of climbing up the stairs on Adams Street to the L, tourists were told about the L while standing next to its stanchions, then walking further west to State Street. The tour took in sites along State Street, including Louis Sullivan’s Carson’s store, now Target, and ended at the Chicago Theater.

But that isn’t the end of the story. At the beginning of 2021, the Tour Committee, analyzing audiences CAC were serving, realized most tours were being taken by members and locals, rather than out-of-towners. Some of the Must-See sites were included on other tours, an overlap that served CAC poorly. So, once more, the tour was changed. The trip down State Street was removed, and the tour now travels down Dearborn Street, highlighting the public art in the three major plazas, linking that concept with the public art in Millennium Park.

In short, Must-See has traveled down a complicated road, rewritten more than most tours. The story of the tour changed repeatedly and profoundly over the past five years. Depending on which year docents learned the tour, they have different versions what is included – although today everyone gives the last iteration, of course. Today, CAC offers an all-walking tour, something that could change again as the pandemic fades, and we become more used to taking the L.

But no matter what the route, like The Little Engine that Could book of our childhoods, the tour plugs along, better than ever. No matter what is included, the tour keeps true to its spirit – fast paced, featuring Chicago icons, offering lots of opportunities for photo shoots. And the docents who have travelled along with it are to be commended. They continue to learn and re-learn this tour as CAC adjusts to different climates and needs. And through it all, the popularity of Must See continues through the years.

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