A year after nearly 1,000 migratory birds were killed by crashing glass outside the Lakeside Center, an exhibition space in Chicago’s McCormick Place, a $1.2 million project to install a bird-friendly pattern to windows, curtain walls and other exterior glass that covers the size. of two soccer fields was finished in September.
The film was manufactured by Toronto-based Feather Friendly Technologies. The installation, which took three months to complete, was done by NGS Films and Graphics of Canton, Ga. Application began in June and required temperatures to be consistently above 50 degrees for the product to adhere properly to the windows. The installers worked in two shifts, five days a week.
“There was a lot of personnel and logistics involved in the installation and several boom lifts and trucks,” says Paul Groleau, vice president of Feather Friendly Technologies.
The film is applied and then removed, and the pattern of marks remains, Groleau says.
“[Removing the film] it is for the durability and longevity of the product, which will last more than 15 years,” he says.
The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (commonly known as McPier), which manages the center, sought the window film solution to minimize collisions based on recommendations from local, national and international advocacy groups of birds and animals, including the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Chicago Bird Collision Monitors and Never Collide.
Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Pier and Exhibition Authority
“When we heard about the reported mass collision event last year, we knew we needed to make additional improvements quickly to protect local and migratory birds as they passed through McCormick Place,” says Larita Clark, CEO of McPier.
The film, which has a pattern that is not visible at a distance to the human eye, is visible to the birds and helps them distinguish between open air and glass. For new construction, many architects specify a frit pattern that is manufactured with the glass itself.
Brian Smith, deputy regional director of migratory birds for the wildlife service’s Midwest region, praised the authority for its response ahead of this year’s fall migratory bird season.
“MPEA leadership was open to suggestions and were transparent with us as they implemented quick and significant changes to their lighting and existing windows to reduce the risk to birds on future migration seasons,” he says
McPier also reaffirmed his commitment to the Lights Out Chicago program, which requires buildings to turn off their lights when unoccupied. It also began turning off unnecessary outdoor lights that can attract wildlife and enacted a policy requiring curtains to be closed at night at the Lakeside Center to prevent light from escaping.
Julian Siggers, president and CEO of Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, which has documented bird collisions at the Lakeside Center for more than four decades, hopes the film will reduce the number of bird collisions. birds
“We expect to see a measurable reduction in these numbers this fall migration season as a result of the new window treatment and policies that MPEA has enacted,” he says. Smith says McPier’s efforts “will provide a model for buildings to reduce bird strikes throughout Chicago and the world.”
