In 1909 Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett proposed two recreational piers for the city's lakefront. Only one was built-Municipal Pier #2 was renamed Navy Pier in 1927. Constructed in 1916, the 3,000-foot-long pier, which sits on 20,000 wood pilings, served as a cargo facility and a docking place for passenger excursion steamers. With its lake breezes, it was also a popular gathering place for Chicagoans seeking to escape the summer heat.