Conventions: The Cost of the New Chicago Fire

Chicago grew rich as the Midwest's hog butcher, and has fattened as "the convention capital of the U.S." As a centrally located air, rail, and highway hub, it is perhaps the most convenient of U.S. cities. It has fleshpots and fun spots. For expositions it has the Navy Pier, Soldier Field, the International Amphitheater, and Chicago Stadium. In 1960, Chicago outdid itself by building McCormick Place, an edifice alongside Lake Michigan that ran the size of six football fields, with 486,000 square feet of space on three levels. It soon became the...