DOWNTOWN — Want to spin Navy Pier's new Ferris wheel? Here's your chance.
The state's largest tourist attraction is hiring 15 new "wheel operators." Primary duties of the job, according to the listing, include loading and unloading the Ferris wheel, providing safety instructions, and "ensuring compliance" while manning its controls.
The new-and-improved Ferris wheel opening Memorial Day weekend is the biggest recent addition to Navy Pier, which is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. The new wheel, inspired by the first-ever Ferris wheel that debuted at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, will rise 50 feet higher than the pier's old one and fit more passengers in climate-controlled gondolas.
RELATED: Navy Pier's New Ferris Wheel To Open Memorial Day Weekend
Applicants need a high school diploma or GED, be able to pass a test and other trainings, work a minimum of three days a week and stand for hours at a time. The listing does not share the job's pay. It's a part-time, seasonal job, but it is possible wheel operators can get another gig with the pier during winter.
A Navy Pier spokeswoman said more than 100 people have applied for the job so far, but the pool will apparently have to compete against a candidate with serious political clout: Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd).
Applying. https://t.co/0NcQG53GAP
— Brendan Reilly (@AldReilly) April 19, 2016
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