The landmark designation would place restrictions on changes to the 43 buildings in a 12-block stretch from Randolph to 11th Streets. More than a third of them on the National Register of Historic Places or a list of official Chicago landmarks. They include the Hilton Hotel, scene of the riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and the Blackstone Hotel, which is being converted to condominiums.

"No other street in the city reflects the beauty and evolution of Chicago than Michigan Avenue," says Commission on Chicago Landmarks chairman David Mosena. "It reflects the development of the city from a fort on the edge of a lake to its growth as a world-class metropolis."

Grant Park separates Michigan Avenue from Lake Michigan. The Michigan Avenue streetscape can be seen from Lake Shore Drive, which runs along the lakefront, as well as from sailboats on Lake Michigan.

Grant Park, a half-mile-wide strip of land, was designated "public ground" in the city's first subdivision map in 1836. Michigan Avenue was a fashionable residential area by the Civil War, but eventually become the home for cultural institutions by the turn of the century. The Auditorium Building Blackstone Theater and Fine Arts Building carry Michigan Avenue addresses.