Summer Time in the Great Lakes USA

Summer time is already in full swing in the Great Lakes USA. Great destinations with festivals a plenty, grand new openings and exciting summer activities.

Wisconsin

Big Leap for Lambeau and Fan Experience

The renovation of the Lambeau Field Atrium, gateway to the Green Bay Packers fan experience, is nearly as epic as the team’s win record (13 world championships, the most of any team in NFL history). Work continues on the $140 million massive refresh, with a new-and-improved Packers Hall of Fame and onsite restaurant set to open in June. The Pro Shop is already complete, and the statues of Vince Lombardi and Curly Lambeau are now elevated above the Pro Shop entrance in the Robert E. Harlan Plaza. Love the Green and Gold: The Pro Shop has doubled in size to 20,000 square feet.    

Hotel Northland – Green Bay

Hotel Northland will re-emerge in 2015 as a full-service boutique hotel in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This 160-room hotel will bring to life an historic property by famed architect Herbert W. Tullgren. Listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, Hotel Northland will capture of spirit of this 1924 hotel while delivering modern amenities, exciting food & beverage outlets, incredible meeting and wedding space and a unique club membership. Opening summer of 2015.

Ohio

Cleveland Institute of Art

The eight-year, $63.5 million renovation of the Cleveland Institute of Art is expected to be completed in September 2015. In addition to updating the institute’s McCullough Center with a 79,000-square-foot, four-story addition, the expansion also includes a new art gallery and a 300-seat auditorium for the area’s non-profit theatre, the Cinematheque.

New Kimpton Hotel

Ohio’s first Kimpton Hotel is set to open in downtown Cleveland this autumn. The luxury, boutique-style hotel is part of a $50 million redevelopment of the city’s landmark Schofield Building and will include 122 rooms, 24 apartments and a speciality restaurant.

Illinois

Taste of Chicago

Taste of Chicago is the nation’s premier outdoor food festival showcasing the diversity of Chicago’s dining community. The delicious array of food served at Taste of Chicago is complemented by music and exciting activities for the entire family. Every summer since 1980, Chicago’s beautiful Grant Park on the city’s magnificent lakefront has been home to the world’s largest food festival.

Minnesota

First Marriott in Minnesota

The first luxury Marriott to enter the state of Minnesota, the JW Marriott Minneapolis Mall of America®, is on track to open November 21, 2015 at 2141 Lindau Lane in Bloomington, Minnesota. With direct access to the Mall of America as part of the $325 million expansion project, it is a ground-up, 14-story, 342 room hotel, reflecting the highest level of luxury accommodations in the state with unique style and grand design.

Surly Brewing Co.

The Surly Brewing Co. has opened the new $30 million-plus Destination Brewery, as well as a beer hall which is open to the public. The beer hall has a new restaurant and outdoor dining area to come later. Now in full production, Surly’s new complex fills more than 100,000 barrels annually which is triple the capacity of the original Surly complex in Brooklyn Centre and way more than any other brewery in town.

Michigan

Detroit Jazz Festival

The Detroit Jazz Festival announced its lineup including a diverse array of headlining acts for the 36th annual Labor Day Weekend Festival, taking place Sept. 4-7. The lineup is the culmination of the Festival’s commitment to bringing a diverse and unique group of jazz musicians to downtown Detroit to deliver a collection of performances that includes a Homecoming Series with Detroit natives, exciting new artists, legends and student groups all connected around special custom programming and unique musical experiences that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world.