Save Grant Park

Plenty of Options

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:14:00 +0000

The Chicago Children's Museum has long insisted that the location of the existing Daley Bicentennial Plaza in Grant Park is the only one acceptable option for its proposed 100,000 square foot building, despite laws prohibiting building in Grant Park and strong opposition from Chicagoans throughout the city. Alderman Brendan Reilly disagrees, and he has offered a list of 24 alternatives.

"To suggest there is only one location where the museum can succeed and thrive in Grant Park doesn't pass the smell test," Reilly said.

Chicago Sun-Times, February 21, 2008

Museum Campus

Northerly Island

Logan Square

Garfield Park Conservatory

Pritzker Park

Washington Park

Bronzeville

Calumet Park

Englewood

State and Van Buren

McCormick Place East

Museum of Broadcast History

Chicago Riverwalk (South Bank at Lake Michigan)

Michigan and Roosevelt (South Loop)

Notebaert Nature Museum (Lincoln Park)

Lincoln Park Zoo (adjacent to zoo)

Old U.S. Post Office

Chicago Athletic Association (South Michigan Ave.)

Carson Pirie Scott Building (State Street)

Former Brach's Candy Factory

U.S. Cellular Field (adjacent to ballpark)

Expansion on Navy Pier

Montrose Park

1 S. Dearborn (50 percent vacant)

Saving Grant Park

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:47:00 +0000

Chicagoans are still fighting to prevent the Chicago Children's Museum from building a 100,000 building in Grant Park. Get the latest information by visiting the Save Grant Park website and signing up for Save Grant Park updates.

Why Grant Park Matters

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:50:00 +0000

Among the ten largest cities in the United States, Chicago enjoys less park space per resident than any other. Yet precious park space is at risk of takeover by private interests.

Land which is now the heart of Grant Park along the Lake Michigan shoreline was designated in 1836 by city founders to remain "Public Ground - A Common to Remain Forever Open, Clear and Free of any Buildings, or Other Obstruction Whatever." Since the late 19th century, this designation has been challenged by a host of interests seeking the glory of a location on this prime open space, and it has taken efforts of both citizens and courts to preserve it. Today, private interests have their eye on the section of Grant Park known as Daley Bicentennial Plaza, seeking to displace existing park resources and construct a 100,000 square foot building in the park.

Editors of The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times, Crain's Chicago Business and Skyline Newspaper have spoken out against the Chicago Children's Museum proposal to build a 100,000 square foot museum in the protected area of Grant Park. Thousands of Chicago residents have petitioned to preserve the park. Friends of Downtown has spoken out. Your voice is needed to preserve open space in Grant Park. You can help preserve precious park space - call your alderman's office to speak out today.

Don't know you alderman? Need more information? You can find it on the Save Grant Park website.

Chicago's mayor faces a revolt

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 02:05:00 +0000

Concern about the Chicago Children’s Museum proposal to build a new 100,000 square foot building in Grant Park has spread way beyond the neighborhood. This week articles on the topic have appeared in publications from coast to coast and even in Europe, mostly drawing from material syndicated by the Associated Press. Even the Economist, a well-known British newsweekly with international distribution, covered the topic with an article of their own, stating that “In a fight over Grant Park, Chicago's mayor faces a small revolt.”

Your help is needed to fuel that revolt. Each and every Chicago alderman needs to hear from constituents. Contact your friends and family throughout Chicago. Contact your enemies, too, as long as they love Grant Park. Ask them all to call their aldermen and encourage them to support Alderman Brendan Reilly and oppose the Chicago Children’s Museum plan to build in Grant Park.

It’s easy to get the word out - visit the Save Grant Park website, and click the Tell a friend link to generate an email message that you can send to friends. The message includes information on how to identify your alderman and get the phone number.

Keep those calls to aldermen coming - Chicago’s city council must be reminded that Grant Park is not up for grabs.

1) CALL YOUR ALDERMAN'S OFFICE.
State your name and address and ask the alderman to support Alderman Brendan Reilly’s efforts to save Grant Park. This takes only a minute.

2) ASK OTHERS TO DO THE SAME!
Not sure how to ask? Go to www.savegrantpark.com and click the “Tell a friend” link which makes it easy to use your own email software to send a message with instructions on why and how to contact alderman.

Don't know the ward? Look it up here: http://www.chicagoelections.com/voterinfo/

Find the alderman's phone number (lookup by ward or name): http://www.chicityclerk.com/citycouncil/alderman/find.html

Two quick things to do today.

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 10:28:00 +0000

Now is the time to tell our city council to stand up and support Alderman Brendan Reilly’s efforts to save Grant Park.

Things really got hot last week. Our dear, sweet mayor said a lot of really nasty things about opponents of the Chicago Children’s Museum’s proposal to build a new 100,000 square foot building in a protected area of the park known as Daley Bicentennial Plaza. His comments were so outlandish that they sparked editorials opposing the proposal to be published in both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. The papers have been flooded with letters calling for the preservation of Grant Park’s green space. Suddenly the local TV stations are taking notice.

Alderman Brendan Reilly has stated his opposition to to this proposal. So Mayor Daley is calling for a vote of the entire city council, all fifty aldermen. Alderman Reilly is now in the process of seeking support from each of his forty-nine peers.

All this excitement has led many of my friends and neighbors to suggest clever strategies for building community support. Here’s my favorite, suggested by a Venezuelan-born Chicagoan (try to imagine his charming accent as you read):

Saving the Park::

Put all the parents naked in that place. It always
brings a lot of attention. And if you bring the famous
photographer who is doing naked shots all over the
world...well, even better.

Although the image this conjures up is rather amusing, conventional approaches should suffice.

So, what to do now? Every alderman must hear from his own constituents. Each alderman’s phone must ring again and again with calls from constituents asking them to support Alderman Brendan Reilly’s efforts to save Grant Park.

Reach out to friends, family and colleagues throughout Chicago and explain the importance of preserving Grant Park open space. Let them know that this isn’t just a neighborhood issue - if Daley gets away with taking over this protected park land, parks throughout Chicago are up for grabs. Tell them they can do two things - in less than five minutes - to help.

First - call your alderman’s office, state your name and address and ask the alderman to support Alderman Brendan Reilly’s efforts to save Grant Park. This takes only a minute.

Second - ask others to do the same.

Don't know the ward? Look it up here: http://www.chicagoelections.com/voterinfo/

Find the alderman's phone number (lookup by ward or name) here: http://www.chicityclerk.com/citycouncil/alderman/find.html

Spread the word! Do it today, it only takes a minute to get started.

Moms vs. mayor

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 03:28:00 +0000

Chicago Sun-Times reporter Mark Konkel came out to the playlot at Daley Bicentennial Plaza in Grant Park to this week to see who was there, and he found just what you'd expect and want to see in any public park: a diverse group of parents and children. He also got quite an earful from some of these neighborhood moms, who speak for themselves in the article Moms vs. mayor, which opens with "A bunch of mommies from the New East Side want Mayor Daley to walk his "large tuchus" over to their neighborhood and call them racists to their face."

Speaking of the the mayor (and some of his friends)... In every neighborhood, there are a few spoiled kids, bullies who will use any tactic to have their way. These aren’t necessarily big or physically tough kids. Who needs brawn when emotional manipulation is so effective? Bragging, name-calling and tantrums get them what they want, at least until a mature adult comes along to set things straight.

Though these kids get older, they don’t necessarily grow up, and when not-very-mature people get their hands on objects of power, like large quantities of money or bulldozers, they can be very destructive. But the adults in Chicago turn out to be a lot harder to manipulate than they expected. Thousands of people have signed petitions, attended meetings, called the mayor and contacted the newspapers and television stations calling for the preservation of Grant Park.

Look, for instance, at the Chicago Sun-Times informal online poll of readers. At the time of this writing, 5604 people had responded to the question, "Do you think the opposition to kids museum is a racial issue?" Of these, 4448 (79%) responded, "No." A smaller poll by WMAQ, drew 89 responses to the question "Would you support the building of a museum in Grant Park?" Of these, 61 (69%) said, "No."

Editors of the major papers are finally weighing in. Read all about it:

Say no to museum in park [Sun-Times Editorial (September 21, 2007)]

Daley vs. the people [Chicago Tribune Editorial (September 21, 2007)]

Children's Museum's bad lessons [Chicago Tribune Op-Ed (September 20, 2007)]

Reilly's right -- Daley's wrong [Chicago Tribune Editorial (September 19, 2007)]

A museum in Grant Park? No. [Chicago Tribune Editorial (September 2, 2007)]

You can find more articles on the websites of the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Skyline newspaper and Chicago Journal and Chicago television stations. A quick web search will lead you to many relevant discussions on forums and blogs.

The Plan Hits the Fan

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 04:48:00 +0000

Be careful what you wish for.

The threats to open park space in the protected area of Grant Park have long deserved more attention from the press. Now we’re getting more than any of us might have imagined.

The September 2 editorial in the Chicago Tribune, which plainly and strongly opposed construction of a new Chicago Children’s Museum building in the northeast corner of Grant Park, was eloquently written and an unexpected lift to many of us who sought to bring attention to the issue and preserve the park. Published just a week before the final neighborhood meeting on the matter, it helped many to keep the faith.

Nobody expected the museum’s backers to roll over, but nobody expected the kind of ugly response that is hitting the media today, either.

This blog has never been anything more than an information resource for locals who aim to preserve open space in Grant Park, and to maintain community park resources and the joys that come with them. If you’re reading this, you almost certainly know what happened next.

For those who may wander in here and not know the story, here is the Cliff’s Notes version: Museum backers demanded access for supporters who did not live in the area to a September 10 meeting, which had been planned as the last in a series of neighborhood resident-only meetings organized by Alderman Reilly for the Chicago Children’s Museum to present a proposal to build in the Daley Bicentennial Plaza site. They brought in loads of people long before meeting time and commandeered seats with the explicit intention of preventing neighborhood residents from entering the meeting room. Locals showed up anyway and stood in the halls and even outside in the rain through the meeting. Alderman Reilly reminded all that he represents the residents of the 42nd ward and promised to state a position the following week. Before Alderman Reilly made his announcement, Mayor Daley called for a vote of all 50 aldermen (positively not typical of Chicago political mechanics) and asserted lots of nasty things about opponents of the museum’s relocation to Grant Park (a quick search on the topic will get you all the gory details). On September 18, Alderman Reilly announced his opposition to the museum’s plan. The Chicago Tribune published another editorial supporting Alderman Reilly. The Sun-Times put nasty comments from Daley and the museum’s chairman on the cover. TV new reporters have been trolling the park. The Chicago Reader finally started publishing a few short pieces on the subject.

What to do? Not much. Keep the faith. Be nice. And go enjoy the park.

Meetings Over: 3 Fast Ways to Save the Park

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 02:17:00 +0000

The last of the neighborhood meetings has ended. Nine meetings, lots of attendees, most squarely opposed to the Chicago Children's Museum proposal to relocate to Daley Bicentennial Plaza in Grant Park. This had been planned as a neighborhood meeting, for the latest version of the plan to be presented to residents of the community nearby. But most of the hundreds of residents of the buildings near the park who attended the meeting stood in the hallways through the meeting, which was packed well before starting time by museum supporters from other communities.

Alderman Reilly spent much of the meeting in the hallways speaking to his constituents. He has said he will state a position next week. Since he has heard plenty from us already, and he knows which side his bread is buttered on, it's time for us to raise the bar with these three fast steps to voice the message to city government (number 3 is good even if you don't live in Chicago):

1) Call Mayor Daley's office at (312) 744-3300, let him know where you live, and tell him that you are opposed to museum construction Daley Bicentennial Plaza.

2) Email Arnold Randall, Chicago's new Commissioner of Planning and Development, arandall@cityofchicago.org , let him know where you live, and tell him that you are opposed to museum construction Daley Bicentennial Plaza.

3) Call a friend (or two,three...) who lives in Chicago, and ask your friend to take these same steps!

Three Easy Ways to Save the Park

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:31:00 +0000

Now is the time to act to save green space in Grant Park. Let city officials know you are glad that Chicagoans have protected open space in the heart of the city since 1836 and don't want to see that change now. Voice the message - there must be no buildings constructed in this part of the park. Here are three easy ways to get that message across:

1) Attend the public meeting tonight (Monday, September 10) at Daley Bicentennial Plaza, 337 East Randolph Street. The meeting starts at 6:3o PM - ARRIVE EARLY, as supporters of the construction project are being bused in, and their plan is to pack the seats to prevent neighborhood residents from entering. If you can, wear green to show your support for green space in Chicago.

2) Call Mayor Daley's office at (312) 744-3300 - this takes only a minute or two. Let him know you live in Chicago and you oppose construction in Daley Bicentennial Plaza.

3) Email Arnold Randall, Chicago's new Commissioner of Planning and Development at arandall@cityofchicago.org. Let him know you live in Chicago and you oppose construction in Daley Bicentennial Plaza.

The timeline

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 13:04:00 +0000

1835 Chicagoans lobby to protect lakefront land and designate what is now the downtown area of Grant Park as “public ground forever to remain vacant of buildings."

1901 After the Great Chicago Fire, Architect Daniel Burnham envisions a formal landscape for the Park, including buildings. Magnate Aaron Montgomery Ward sues in opposition.

1911 Illinois Supreme Court rules in Ward’s favor.

Late 2005 Chicago Children’s Museum seeks to relocate to the current location of Daley Bicentennial Plaza. Report appears in Chicago Journal December 5, 2005.

Jan 2006 Additional newspaper reports of the Chicago Children’s Museum plan begin to surface. Chicago Children’s Museum representatives meet with Grant Park Advisory Council (also known as Grant Park Conservancy) Jan 24. Grant Park Advisory Council supports the plan. Report appears in Skyline February 2, 2006.

Feb 2006 Friends of the Park gives conditional support to the plan. Chicago Tribune publishes report on plan showing 4-story atrium on Randolph Street.

March 2006 Friends of Downtown publicly oppose plan. Report appears in Chicago Sun-Times March 16, 2006. Residents of nearby buildings, led by Peggy and John Figiel, meet for the first time to discuss plan, which includes 4 story atrium, demolition of the skating rink, demolition of the fieldhouse and reconstruction in a new location in the northeast corner of the park at Randolph. The proposed museum is a building of 100,000 square feet. The group is strongly opposed. An informal opposition group, Friends of Daley Bi, is formed.

May 2006 Alderman Natarus vows opposition to the plan at a meeting attended by about 400 people. [Newspaper reports give somewhat smaller attendance numbers, the figure of 400 is based on attendance sheets from the meeting.] Report appears in Chicago Tribune May 10, 2006. Chicago Children’s Museum officials publicly announce their intention to continue to pursue the plan. Report appears in Chicago Tribune May 12, 2006. Skyline publishes editorial by Ann Gerber opposing plan, published May 18, 2006.

June 2006 Over 2000 people sign a petition to Mayor Daley opposing the move. Report appears in Chicago Tribune stating that the Chicago Children’s Museum was considering locations further south, published June 14, 2006.

September 2006 Mayor Daley holds press conference announcing move of Chicago Children’s Museum to Grant Park at northeast corner of Monroe and Columbus (current location of minigolf couse). Reported by CBS 5 and Chicago Sun-Times September 28, 2006. Natarus claims the plan is a victory for the neighborhood and refers to it in campaign literature.

November 2006 Coalition of nonprofits meets in opposition to the new plan. Report appears in Chicago Tribune November 22, 2006.

May 2007 Chicago Children’s Museum makes new bid for Daley Bi location. Residents begin phoning Mayor Daley’s office in opposition. Informal reports of around 200 calls in the first 1-2 days. Grant Park Conservancy presents information about proposal despite a press release from Chicago Children’s Museum stating that such meetings do not represent their plan. Press release dated May 29, 2007. Grant Park Conservancy, still in favor of the plan, presents slides of preliminary drawings, showing a two-story atrium and 100,000 square foot museum facility.

How Big Is It?

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 21:20:00 +0000

The Chicago Children's Museum proposes to build a new 100,000 square foot building beneath a northern section of Grant Park. The community is asked to believe that such a structure would have no significant impact on the park green and open space. How realistic is this claim?

Today, a large parking facility is built underground in this section of the park. While much greenery does remain above, there are also a number of structures on the surface, which provide for needs such as ventilation of the parking area. Few passersby would consider a ventilation duct attractive, but more importantly, these structures limit pathways and take up space that would otherwise be green. Since drivers park their cars and leave, today there are only a few people in the parking building at a time. An occupied building would call for excellent ventilation; what would the requirements for surface ducts or other structure be? The museum has stressed, in presentations and in its report "Standards of Excellence in Early Learning: A Model for the Chicago Children's Museum," its requirement for natural light. Permeating any large building with natural light is a design challenge, even more so an underground building, but it is difficult to imagine how this would be done without some significant above ground structure to open the building to sunlight.

Consider the size of the proposed new museum - one hundred thousand square feet. Two bedroom apartments in downtown Chicago are typically in the range of 800-1100 square feet each. The existing fieldhouse at Daley Bicentennial Plaza, built into a hillside at the northern edge of the park, is about 10,000 square feet. The current museum space at Navy Pier is 57,000 square feet. Most floors of the nearby 400 East Randolph Street condominium, which has the largest footprint of any building in the area, have 30 units ranging from 650-1100 square feet each - so 100,000 square feet is roughly equivalent to three full floors of a large high-rise building. Such a large occupied structure would certainly require considerable resources for light and ventilation, it is hard to believe that it could be built and function successfully without considerable impact to the park above.

Petition to Preserve the Park

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 12:40:00 +0000

Petitions opposing the Chicago Children's Museum takeover of Daley Bicentennial Plaza have been circulating in the neighborhood near Daley Bicentennial Plaza. In the first two weeks of circulation, around 1500 signatures were collected. Final counts are expected to be considerably higher. Circulation of petitions is now ending, and neighborhood residents will again be reminding Alderman Natarus of their concerns.

Vocal neighborhood opposition to to the Children's Museum plan to take over the current site of the Daley Bicentennial Plaza is beginning to have some impact. A June 14 article in the Chicago Tribune quoted Alderman Natarus as saying that Peter England, CEO of the museum, had expressed "interest in a location farther south in Grant Park, near Monroe and Columbus Drives." However, a museum spokeperson also told the Tribune that the Daley Bicentennial Plaza site is still under consideration, and Peter England was not available for comment to the Tribune.

While preserving Daley Bicentennial Plaza as a community park is a primary concern, it is not the only concern. The land which constitutes the original footprint of Grant Park was deeded to remain "forever open, free and clear of buildings." Over time, this requirement has been repeatedly challenged, and the space remaining free of buildings has shrunk. The alternate site mentioned by the Tribune article is still clearly within the land area that is intended to be preserved as open space.

Other questions remain - how would the large structure that the museum prosposes to build (100,000 square feet) impact the surface and the landscape? How have museum officials come to believe that this protected park location is theirs for the taking? Why do they show no interest in seeking out locations elsewhere where a new museum and its visitors could enhance the community? How does the museum, whose current budget is only $6 million per year, expect to obtain the funding that would be required for such a large capital project?

More coverage on community opposition

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Fri, 19 May 2006 19:01:00 +0000

This week, several Pioneer Press newspapers featured an editorial by Ann Gerber opposing the Chicago Children's Museum move to the site of Daley Bicentennial Plaza, and objecting to increased commercialization of Chicago's lakefront and park land. The editorial begins with these words:

"WE WANT NEIGHBORHOODS, not tourist attractions that eat up every inch of lakefront and park land."

Don't mess up park, Navy Pier - Skyline [05-18-06]

Chicago Journal published an article titled Natarus vows to protect Daley Bi

Next Steps to Save Daley Bi

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Sun, 14 May 2006 03:46:00 +0000

What's next for Chicago residents seeking to preserve Daley Bicentennial Plaza as a community park and protected open space? A petition directed to Mayor Richard Daley. Friends of Daley Bi, an informal group of area residents, are preparing the petition and organizing a campaign to collect no less than 2000 signatures of Chicagoans who seek to preserve Daley Bicentennial Plaza as a community park and green space. Supporters intend to begin collecting signatures in neighborhood high-rises by late next week.

Friends of Downtown position

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Sun, 14 May 2006 03:37:00 +0000

Earlier this year, representatives of Friends of Downtown, a community organization which calls itself "the voice for intelligent planning and urban design for downtown Chicago," met with representatives of the Chicago Children's Museum to review the Museum's proposed relocation to the site of the current Daley Bicentennial Plaza. After that review, Friends of Downtown stated their opposition in a letter dated March 6, 2006 and directed to Peter England of the Chicago Children's Museum. Alderman Natarus, Park District Superintendent Tim Mitchell and others also received copies. The letter stated "we cannot support the museum’s proposed move into Grant Park."

The letter went on to say "The 150-year old covenant that created Grant Park – the one that Montgomery Ward fought three court battles to successfully protect – prescribed a park that is forever free, open and clear. Since its creation, many factions—always with the best of intentions--have tried to encroach on its footprint. Fortunately, most of those attempts have failed and today people celebrate Ward’s vision, wisdom and tenacity. " In short, the Friends of Downtown position is based on the status of Grant Park as a protected open space and the need to preserve green space in downtown Chicago.

For more information, contact the Friends of Downtown.

Friends of Downtown
PO Box 1635
Chicago 60690
Phone 312 458 9454

http://www.friendsofdowntown.org/

Natarus pledges opposition, Museum plows forward

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Sun, 14 May 2006 03:01:00 +0000

Much has happened in the past week.

May 8

The Chicago Children's Museum made a presentation at the Daley Bicentennial Plaza explaining their philosophy and plans to build a new museum at that site. Children's Museum representatives insisted that the 100,000 square foot museum and its visitors would not disrupt the site as a community resource. A number of attendees posed questions regarding the reasoning behind the bid to relocate to the site of a successful community park area, rather than to the museum campus or another site. In response, Museum representatives sited their interest in the area's transportation resources, parking, beautiful surroundings and unobstructed lakefront views.

When pressed, Peter England, President of the Chicago Children's Museum, stated "I did consider other locations, but they were not offered to me." This led to the question of who offered up the Daley Bicentennial Plaza location, not only a public resource but also a location on land deeded to remain forever open, a requirement which has withstood many challenges over the years. Mr. England replied only that a couple of board members and a couple of people from the Chicago Park District were behind the plan.

Mayor Daley has yet to comment about the Daley Bicentennial Plaza proposal. This seems remarkable in light of the fact that the plaza is dedicated as a memorial to his own father. One is left to wonder what involvement Mayor Daley may have in this plan.

May 10

Residents of the Daley Bicentennial Plaza area, who have now informally organized under the name Friends of Daley Bi, met with Alderman Natarus. The line to sign in to the meeting extends out the door of the fieldhouse. Four hundred names were collected on the sign-in sheet. Total attendance was even higher as some attendees did not sign in. Despite the late arrival of the Alderman, a standing room only crowd waits to hear what he has to say. The Alderman repeatedly refers to the plan as a "bad idea." He also stated plainly that he opposed the plan, and that he was a member of the Chicago Plan Commission, whose approval would be required to issue any permits for construction of a museum. He stated that he would vote against the issuance of any such permit.

Despite the Alderman's strong statements, many residents are expressing concerns that his comments may be insincere, a cover for a deal made behind closed doors and not shared with the public. Continued community pressure will be needed to make clear the expectation that it is not enough to merely state an opposing viewpoint. The community needs its park resources and cannot afford to let them slip away.

May 12

Despite the large turnout at the community meeting and the clear statements of Alderman Natarus, Chicago Children's Museum representatives announce their intentions to move forward with their plans to pursue the Daley Bicentennial Plaza site.

How you can help today

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Tue, 09 May 2006 10:55:00 +0000

Yesterday, a newcomer to the neighborhood, Ben, left a lovely comment. Among his words were these:

I support our city's cultural institutions as much as anyone, but our parks are OUR parks, and once they're gone, they're gone.

Ben asked to be counted among the list of those who support preserving the park. There is no list maintained at this site, but there are simple ways that you can support the park. Here are some that you should know:

Please contact Alderman Natarus. Do this today. Just a few sentences will get your message across.

bnatarus@natarus.com

312.744.3062

121 N. LaSalle Street, Room 306
Chicago, IL 60602

If possible, come to the meeting on May 10, 6:30-7:30 at Daley Bicentennial Plaza. Whether or not you can come to the meeting yourself, please spread the word among your neighbors and friends and ask them to come. Past experience has shown us that the number of people who come to neighborhood meetings is extremely important to Alderman Natarus, and that he is prepared to take action on behalf of communities who show commitment in this way.

Drop a note to the editors of newspapers that you read. Yesterday's article in the Metro section of The Chicago Tribune is first significant piece that has mentioned neighborhood opposition to moving the Chicago Children's Museum to the Daley Bicentennial Plaza site. If the local papers receive a steady stream of letters opposing the move, more coverage will follow.

Chicago Tribune covers opposition to move

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Mon, 08 May 2006 11:43:00 +0000

Page one of the Metro section of today's (Monday, May 8) Chicago Tribune includes an article ("Children's museum faces fight over move") covering some of the concerns of neighborhood residents - now known informally as the Friends of Daley Bicentennial - and of the Friends of Downtown over the Chicago Children's Museum's proposal to take over the site of Daley Bicentennial Plaza. The article focuses on concerns over traffic, and on the loss of the Plaza's ice rink. It also mentions A. Montgomery Ward's battle to preserve Grant Park's open space.

Also discussed is the upcoming neighborhood meeting with Alderman Natarus, and a Chicago Children's Museum presentation to the Grant Park Advisory Council, a group which has publically expressed support for the move to the Daley Bicentennial Plaza location.

According to the article, the Park District "supports the museum's proposal but is waiting for the museum to gather comments from the community." The museum is hardly likely to be an unbiased source for the Park District to gather information on community concerns. Indeed, the same article quotes a museum spokesperson as saying "we will have a series of meetings where a select group of people from the community can sit with the architect and be part of the process." Selected by whom?

Alderman Natarus will be at Daley Bicentennial Plaza this Wednesday, May 10, to hear the concerns of local residents directly. Past experience has shown that the Alderman gauges voter opinion by the number of people who show up in person at such meetings, and that he will quickly take a position based on meeting turnout and resident concerns. Please take one hour to attend this meeting.

Meeting with Alderman Naturus to save Daley Bicentennial Plaza
Daley Bicentennial Plaza
337 E. Randolph
Wednesday, May 10
6:30-7:30 PM
Childcare and refreshments will be available.

For more ways to help protect Daley Bicentennial Plaza, please click for Easy Ways That You Can Help.

Newspaper reports don't reflect park's value

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 13:39:00 +0000

Newspaper reports on the Chicago Children's Museum bid to take over the Daley Bicentennial Plaza site reveal little about the popularity of the Daley Bicentennial Plaza and surrounding facilities, or the role of these facilities in the expanding residential community just steps north of Grant Park. An April 4, 2006 article in the Chicago Tribune focused on Peter England, President of the Chicago Children's Museum. That article referred to the Daley Bicentennial Plaza as "a lightly traveled but highly prized site." A February 8 piece in the Chicago Sun-Times called it "a lonely patch of Grant Park." And on January 25, the Chicago Journal called it "the drab Daley Bi."

Neighborhood residents don't share this outlook. Indeed, on February 1, just days after the Chicago Journal called the plaza drab, the same paper reported that the President of The Grant Park Advisory Council, had "been flooded by calls from community members who use the Daley Bi skate rink and appreciate its more low-key ambience compared to Millennium Park’s rink."

The plaza has long been the neighborhood fieldhouse for residents of nearby high-rise buildings - The Buckingham, Outer Drive East, Harbor Point, The Park Shore and North Harbor Tower all lie within two blocks of the plaza, and these have been joined by new buildings completed last year on Field Drive just north of the park. More residential high-rises are under construction on Field Drive and Randolph Street today. The plaza is open to all, of course, and is the nearest fieldhouse and resource for city offerings such as fitness classes, tennis courts and children's activities for residents living much more than one or two blocks away.

Private Interests Eye Daley Bicentennial Plaza

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 11:01:00 +0000

Daley Bicentennial Plaza is located within Grant Park on Chicago's downtown lakefront. Grant Park, which dates back to the early 19th century, is situated on a large plot of land in the heart of the city. No permanent buildings may be constructed in Grant Park. Indeed, the fieldhouse at Daley Bicentennial Plaza, a neighborhood recreation area, is located below street level. Many passersby on Randolph Street have no idea that the fieldhouse lies just below.

From the start, commercial and other private interests eyed this attractive parcel of real estate. Local leaders fought to preserve Grant Park as open land; most notable of these was the merchant A. Montgomery Ward, who repeatedly took his fight as far as the Illinois Supreme Court, and won. Forever Open, Clear, and Free : The Struggle for Chicago's Lakefront (by Lois Wille, published by University of Chicago Press) details many challenges to the public nature of the park and the efforts of those who took on the task of preserving it.

Chicago has not seen the end of attempts to encroach on Grant Park. Most recent, and still in play, is the Chicago Children's Museum's bid to move to Daley Bicentennial Plaza. Currently located in a large space on Chicago's Navy Pier, and enjoying a 99 year lease at the modest rent of $1 per year, the museum still is unsure of the suitability of the Navy Pier location for its future. [Chicago Tribune article on the Chicago Children's Museum bid to take over Daley Bicentennial Plaza. This article may require registration to access.]

Why Save Daley Bicentennial Plaza?

noreply@blogger.com (Meta Brown) — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 00:06:00 +0000

Daley Bicentennial Plaza is the heart of neighborhood and family living for thousands of residents of downtown Chicago. It's also a place of rest and recreation for those who work in nearby offices. Visitors who come to see popular downtown tourist attractions may take a quiet break at this friendly field house and playlot.

You can find Daley Bicentennial Plaza in the Northeast corner of Grant Park at 337 E. Randolph Street. It's inconspicuous. From Randolph Street, you might not even notice that it is there - the fieldhouse is below street level. You might spot the play area, especially on a summer afternoon, when it is filled with neighborhood children and their parents. Or the busy tennis courts. In the winter, the ice rink, bustling with life, would surely catch your eye.

The fieldhouse is more than a place to get in from the cold or the rain. It's home to fitness classes, neighborhood meetings, and much-needed park district programs including a summer day camp for school age children. It's a daily meeting place for those who choose to make the heart of the city a home and not just a stop on the way to life in the suburbs.

This important neighborhood institution is at risk of being overtaken by a tourist attraction. Please return in the days to come and learn what's threatening Daley Bicentennial Plaza and how you can help to preserve it.