The new fountain at Navy Pier is open

When Municipal Pier opened to visitors on July 15, 1916, the Chicago Tribune reported, "In spite of the heat thousands walked to the pier and walked the full length of it."

Now, as Navy Pier nears its 100th anniversary, the new Polk Bros. Fountain and Plaza at the pier's entrance invites visitors to splash around in its new fountain. The new installation combines choreographed water displays, hundreds of LED lights and a fog generator.

It's part of a 13-acre park named after the Polk family — who gave $20 million to the pier's redevelopment — at the gateway to Navy Pier. Three years in the making, the fountain was coordinated by landscape architect James Corner Field Operations of New York City and Los Angeles-based water feature design and engineering company Fluidity Design Consultants, which also is working on a smaller fountain for the last phase of theChicago Riverwalk.

The fountain turns at 1:30 p.m. Friday, May 27. Officials say it will be active from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and from 10 a.m. to midnight weekends, weather permitting.