By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 28, 2006

The president of the Czech Republic took a few minutes Thursday from his hectic visit to Chicago to catch his breath--he admired the underbelly of the "Bean," caught water spurting out of the modern-day gargoyles of Crown Fountain and asked about the sound system of the Pritzker Pavilion.

President Vaclav Klaus became the latest high-flying tourist to visit Millennium Park.

Dozens of foreign delegations have come from as far as England, Germany, China, Japan, Mexico, Israel and Canada. Some have come to "ooh" and "aah." Others to get inspired.

They want to emulate what has become toasted by many as the model urban public park: It marries public and private funds, and it delivers culture as well as passive recreation.

Millennium Park officials also have visited Toronto, Colombia and Portugal.

"They want to know how we built it, how we paid for it, and how we generated all the private dollars that went into it," said Ed Uhlir, executive director for Millennium Park Inc., which raises maintenance and programming funds.

The 24.5-acre park has helped fuel a residential boom in the area, and attracted an estimated 5 million visitors to the park since it opened in summer 2004.

An economic impact study completed last year showed the park, much criticized for cost overruns and delays, will help create $1.4 billion in residential revenue and generate up to $2.6 billion in tourism dollars by 2014.

"There's a lot packed into Millennium Park," said Adrian Benepe, commissioner of parks and recreation for New York who visited Millennium Park last spring. "It's interesting to see how they built a large and busy public park right in downtown."

But not all has been roses for the park: Revenues from the parking garage, which was to pay bondholders who helped finance construction of the estimated $500 million park, have been lower than expected. Still, what grabs the attention of out-of-towners is the private investment that helped raise about $240 million to cover such goodies as the Cloud Gate sculpture, the fountain and the pavilion.

"They were not looking for any donations less than $1 million," said Martha Welborne, who is working on a project in Los Angeles. "That's very clever. That's very courageous."