Miller Beach - Landmarks

Landmarks

See also: Marquette Park (Gary) Historic structures of downtown Miller Beach: Bethel Lutheran church (1894), Chapel of the Dunes (1901), Miller School (1910), Miller Town Hall (1911).

Many of the notable sites in Miller Beach are located within its large lakefront park, Marquette Park. Covering 159.4 acres of dunes and beaches, the park was designed in the 1920s by pioneering landscape architect Jens Jensen. Historic structures within Marquette Park include the Chanute Aquatorium and the Marquette Park Pavilion, both designed by Prairie School architect George W. Maher. The beach of the park, known as Marquette Beach, has been a very popular summer destination since the early 20th century. Because of Octave Chanute's experiments in the area, the park has been designated a National Landmark of Soaring.

A bronze statue of the park's namesake, Father Jacques Marquette, stands at the park entrance. The statue was installed in 1931 when the park, formerly known as Lake Front Park, was rededicated under its current name. It was created by beaux-arts architectural sculptor Henry Hering, and has an ornate limestone base designed by the Walker and Weeks architectural firm. Restoration work on the statue began in October 2010. The Marquette Park Pavilion, constructed in 1924 by Maher, stands immediately across from the statue.

The Pavilion sits on the south bank of the East Lagoon of the Grand Calumet River. The lagoon has been extensively landscaped in accordance with Jensen's park design. In the center of the lagoon stands a small man-made island, Patterson Island, built by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. The island is connected to the shore by two footbridges: a suspension bridge on the north and a Japanese-style bridge on the south.

Landmarks of Marquette Park: Pere Marquette statue by Henry Hering, Marquette Beach, Chanute Aquatorium, Japanese bridge on East Lagoon.

As of 2011, a US$28 million project to improve Marquette Park was underway, funded by a grant from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. Begun in 2009, the project was the first capital improvement to Marquette Park since 1931. In addition to Marquette Park itself, the project covers the entire lakefront of Miller Beach, including the Lake Street and Wells Street beaches, for a total of 241 acres.

Two buildings in Miller Beach are on the National Register of Historic Places. The Miller Town Hall, built in 1911, was added to the Register in 1978. The Chanute Aquatorium on the Marquette Park lakefront was added to the Register in 1994. A Classical Revival structure designed by George W. Maher, the Aquatorium was built in 1922. Originally a bathhouse, it fell into disuse in the mid-20th century and was closed and nearly demolished in 1971. With the support of a society of local residents, the building was remodeled as a combination of an aviation museum and public event space.