A group of business leaders in Chicago wants to build a line of aerial gondolas constructed of glass to allow tourists to sightsee from above the city. The leaders made the proposal in a presentation to the City Club of Chicago last month as part of a plan to grow tourist numbers in the city to 76 million per year – a 50 percent increase over current numbers. The gondolas, called the Skyline, would link popular attractions Navy Pier and Millennium Park on Michigan Avenue, showing off the city’s architecture. The gondolas would carry 3,000 people per hour in both directions at 9 mph in all weather conditions. The half-hour ride would soar 17 stories above the Chicago River’s south bank. Tickets would cost around $20. The gondola line is one of a number of suggestions, including ideas to redesign nighttime lighting to highlight the city’s features, improving streetscapes and public transportation to and from the airport, performance barges on the river and a new entertainment district in the Cermak corridor. One of the presenters, Lou Raizin, believes the gondolas could bring 1.4 million visitors to Chicago. “We kept coming back to the same question: What’s our unique feature? Where’s our Eiffel Tower? Where’s our Big Ben? These ideas are our attempt to answer this question.”