Prom for the class of 2017 and beyond will remain at Navy Pier. The results were determined on Feb. 19. and Navy Pier received 1,477 votes—68.54 percent compared to 14.34 percent for the Museum of Science and Industry and 11.51 percent for the Field Museum.
“I am thrilled for the future classes of LT that prom will remain at Navy Pier,” Prom sponsor Mary Gresge said. “Since most students attend Prom only once, each class deserves the unique experience that Navy Pier provides.”
The voting for the venues was postponed from December until February due to new or changed information. The voting officially opened on Feb. 6 and remained open for two weeks. Freshman, sophomores and juniors were prompted to vote every time they logged into an LT computer until they had submitted their vote.
“We would have done our students an injustice without getting all the information before setting up the website,” Director of Student Activities Peter Geddeis said. “If the venue were to have changed, we wanted students to have as much say as possible.”
The afternoon before the voting website was launched, Navy Pier officials made a final change to their information. They extended LT’s guaranteed dates for prom from 2017 through 2020, just as the other two venues—The Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry did.
“Although it can never be confirmed, LT looking into other venues may have put pressure on Navy Pier to see what they could do to accommodate us,” Geddeis said.
Regardless of the delay, students remained interested in the topic. Over 750 votes were cast the first day and 95 percent of those students made a choice between venues—rather than selecting “no preference.”
“I feel like [prom at Navy Pier] will be great,” Junior Class Board President Abby Vulich ‘17 said. “Navy Pier is gorgeous and it allows us to stay in the same price range.”
The price per ticket will remain at $115 and post-prom will include the Odyssey cruise ($35 per person).
“Going to Navy Pier has been a tradition at LT,” Geddeis said. “No other school holds prom there and this is something we pitch even to eighth graders.”