[4] It also accommodated runners and inline skaters,[5][6] but now is exclusively used by a Chicago Police Department Bike Patrol Group and no longer is used by commuters.

[10] Additionally, the Chicago metropolitan area's other mass transit providers, Metra and Pace, have developed increased bike accessibility.

[10][12] McDonald's controversially claimed that, since it was providing a healthier menu and fostering grade school physical education, (in an effort to help its customers improve their health) sponsoring bicycle and exercise activity in the park augments the company's other initiatives.

[2][13][14][15] Pro-cycling and environmentalist journalists in publications well beyond the Chicago metropolitan area described the Cycle Center as exemplary, impressive, unique and ground-breaking.

[18] This was at a time when bike stations were in place or being planned in several U.S. cities, such as Denver, and, in California, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Long Beach and Palo Alto.

The station was developed as part of "Bike 2010 Plan" discussions, an initiative from Mayor Daley to promote Chicago as the most bicycle-friendly city in the United States.

[5] Although bicycle centers were already common throughout Europe,[10] Long Beach, California is credited with pioneering commuter-biking hubs offering valet parking, showers and repair services in the United States.

(This meant that local governments have a limited responsibility to keep cyclists safe and that municipalities are immune from bicycle-injury lawsuits unless the street has been clearly marked as a bike route.

At the time, the city of Chicago had 90 miles (140 km) of bike lanes (with an additional 110 miles (180 km) forthcoming), in excess of 9,000 bike racks, and it had implemented a policy allowing bicycles on CTA trains (at all times excluding weekday morning and afternoon rush hours), CTA buses and Pace buses.

[27] The structure was originally named the Millennium Park Bike Station, but in June 2006 McDonald's announced a $5 million grant to underwrite the operations of the Cycle Center for 50 years.

As part of the endowment, McDonald's agreed to be the sponsor of free summer physical fitness programs such as yoga, pilates, and a variety of dance class sessions in Millennium Park for 10 years.

[29][30] The Cycle Center was designed to encourage bicycle commuting to Millennium and Grant Parks as well as to work and other nearby downtown locations, such as the Art Institute of Chicago.

[3][31] It represented two major initiatives by Mayor Daley in the 2000s decade: to promote cycling and to make the city greener by reducing traffic congestion and improving air quality.

The physical focal point of the Cycle Center is an atrium that introduces the two lower levels of facilities and provides an aesthetic above-ground presence.

[36] When the heated and air conditioned McDonald's Cycle Center opened, bicycle parking facilities with amenities, which had first appeared in the U.S. on the West Coast, did not exist in the Midwest.

The interior design was a joint collaboration between the city of Chicago, Josta, and Cycle-Safe, Inc. of Grand Rapids, Michigan, which also produces lockers and racks for bicycles.

[42] The Cycle Center offered a wide variety of bicycle styles, models and accessories for hourly, daily, weekly or monthly rental.

[51][52] The Chicago Tribune's architecture critic, Blair Kamin, gave the Cycle Center three stars (out of a possible four), described as a "gem" for the city and praised several elements of its detail.

[4][54] The Toronto Star described it similarly, saying that it was a "jewel-like glass building" with "amenities of an upscale health club"; it quoted a cycling advocate who said "It's not heaven, but it's close".

[55] What proved more controversial were McDonald's claims that, since it was providing a healthier menu and fostering grade school physical education in an effort to help its customers improve their health, sponsoring bicycle and exercise activity in the park augments the company's other initiatives.