Why Grant Park Matters

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

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.

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.

The Plan Hits the Fan

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.

Three Easy Ways to Save the Park

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.