The construction of the fair had a very tight schedule, not helped by initial disagreement on its location. Fair Director James Ellsworth hired leading landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who arrived just after a heatwave had killed 17 people in Chicago. He argued that the world fair should be a showcase for “becomingness.” Burnham and Root attended the opening of the world’s tallest building, along with former mayor Carter Henry Harrison. Prendergast ran a team of newsboys but wrote fervent letters to the city’s political leaders, championing Harrison in particular. In October 1890, amid financial turbulence, Burnham was made chief of construction for the still displaced fair. 

By the close of 1886, Holmes had a thriving business. He courted and eventually married Myrta Z. Belknap whom he had met in Minneapolis, neglecting to tell her that he was already married to Clara Lovering. Holmes secretly charged his former wife with infidelity but failed to prosecute. In 1888, Myrta became pregnant. When she began to get in his way, giving birth to Lucy, she left to live with her parents. Holmes instantly transformed in a successful effort to woo her back.