Quote:
Originally Posted by VivaLFuego
Grant Park isn't Central Park. It is an interactive park. That's why it has wide streets to use for street fests(Columbus), and open spaces in front of bandshells (Petrillo and Pritzker), and sculptures (Bean), fountains (Buckingham and MP), and a whole lot of (gasp) museums that (gasp) dare to charge admission. Grant Park isn't a naturalistic retreat from the bustle of the city; our neighborhood parks (Washington, Jackson, Lincoln, etc serve that role moreso). Rather Grant Park is part of a bustling city. I see nothing wrong with adding stuff to Grant Park, as long as it is done right and with proper consideration and design. I just don't buy into this righteous indignation about forever free, open, clear, whatever. So you oppose the Art Institute expansion as well?
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There's no reason for wide streets in Grant Park. You could just as easily build a parade ground type space that could serve the same function during the Taste, etc, but also actually add something to the park for the rest of the year.
Better yet, replace the roads with woods.
Central Park has a museum on its edge as well, and that's fine. It's got an ice skating rink. It's got a playground for kids. It's got a large fountain area, miniature castle, zoo and 2 restaurants. But the experience is better overall for one main reason - the general absence of automobile traffic except for the weekday rush hour. And since the roads that automobile traffic are permitted on are either sunken and out of sight, or one-way, curving roads, they don't destroy the aesthetics of the park or inhibit pedestrian movement.
And here's a big point: Why do there need to be roads through Grant Park, aside from small paths for service vehicles?
It's not as big as Central Park, for one. And second, who actually needs to drive through the park? In New York, the roads that cross Central Park are an absolute necessity, unless you want to have to drive all the way north or south to 110th street or 59th street to get between the Upper West and Upper East sides. But there's nothing to the east of Grant Park except water. Vehicular access to Soldier Field and the Museum Campus is to the south of the park, and Navy Pier is to the north of the park. The route wouldn't be any less direct if drivers going to and from LSD used Roosevelt Rd or Randolph St. Likewise, it wouldn't be a huge bother for anyone who currently takes Columbus through the park to drive a block east or a block west to the Drive or Michigan, respectively.
Grant Park is, of course, a different animal than Central Park. It's planned as a formal French garden, not an English country park. But this doesn't mean it needs cars and trucks streaming through.
What I would propose: retain one vehicular traverse through the park at Congress (eastbound traffic curves around Buckingham fountain to the south, westbound traffic north of the fountain). Make Columbus about 3/4 as wide as it is now, and replace the asphalt with the same pink gravel that's around Buckingham Fountain. Add a line of trees down the center. This remains the staging area for the Taste of Chicago. The other east-west streets through the park become gravel as well, with benches and fountains, so that they're pedestrianized but still provide open space for fairs.
There's really no reason not to do any of this except for the fact that it would cost money, but that's never a reason not to do something worthwhile.