Apple will make changes to Chicago store to save birds

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Chicago apple store
Apple's new store is located on Magnificent Mile.
Photo: Apple

Apple has agreed to dim the lights of its fancy new Chicago Apple Store during the fall months due to deadly bird strikes.

According to the volunteer group Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, dead birds have been found at the Apple Store ever since it opened earlier this month, due to their propensity for becoming disoriented due to the lights, before crashing into the walls.

In a statement made by Apple spokesperson Nick Leahy, the company said that, “Starting [last Friday], at least until we can get through the migratory season, we will get the lights down as much as can overnight.”

The city of Chicago operates a “Lights Out” program encouraging companies operating high rises to turn off or dim any nonessential or decorative lights. While it’s not a high rise, the $27 million Apple store is two stories tall and is located near to a major migration path.

The London-based architects Foster + Partners, who designed the store, says that it studied the possibility of bird strikes on the building, and concluded that this would not be a problem — although it appears that Apple now thinks this may not be the case.

Apple’s new Chicago store

Apple’s new Chicago store, located on Michigan Avenue on the city’s Magnificent Mile, opened October 20. It is one of Apple’s most expensive new locations of 2017. It boasts a 20,000-square-feet of retail space, mostly below ground level.

To celebrate the launch, Apple partnered with Chicago hip-hop artist Saba to create a new song called “Where Ideas Sing,” as a way to highlight the city’s creativity and energy. Public artist Matthew Hoffman was then brought in to bring the lyrics to life by painting an enormous mural on the side of the store.

Source: Chicago Tribune

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