Quote:
Originally Posted by Alliance
Moving the Childrens Museum to grant park is a HORRIBLE idea. That are of the park needs to be redeveloped (meaning un-developed in to PARK).
End of Story imo. The Park should be immutable.
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http://www.economist.com/world/na/di...ory_id=9905732
Not in my front yard
Oct 4th 2007 | CHICAGO
From The Economist print edition
In a fight over Grant Park, Chicago's mayor faces a small revolt
RICHARD DALEY is used to getting what he wants. Elected Chicago's mayor in 1989, he is often called “the emperor”. Now he is facing a rare opponent: a 35-year-old, first-term alderman. Last month Brendan Reilly said he would fight plans to move the Chicago Children's Museum to a treasured spot in his ward, Grant Park, the city's so-called front yard. Mr Daley erupted, hinting that the museum's critics simply want to keep black and Hispanic children out of the park. He declared it “a fight for the future of this city”.
Mr Daley already seems sheepish about framing the fight in such dramatic terms. He has softened his tone and says he is open to compromise. But Chicagoans are still waiting for the details. For though Mr Daley can usually rally the city council to his side, Mr Reilly has claimed a powerful ally: Aaron Montgomery Ward.
True, Ward died in 1913, but he rules over Grant Park from the grave. Having made a fortune from America's first mail-order business, Ward went to court to keep developers out of the park. He based his case on the words of three commissioners, who in 1836 wrote that what is now Grant Park should be “Public Ground—A Common to Remain Forever Open, Clear and Free of any Buildings, or other Obstruction Whatever.” During his life Ward was often perceived as a stubborn pest—the Chicago Tribune called him a “human icicle”. But for decades he has been praised as the guardian of the park, which covers 320 acres (1.3 square km) along Chicago's lakefront.
Mr Daley has shown himself more flexible than Ward purists. One of his greatest achievements, Millennium Park, defies Ward's principle of pure open space. The park is dotted with attractions, including Frank Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion, which called itself a piece of art to dodge conflict over new construction. The park has been enormously popular since opening in 2004; last year it had 3m visitors.
Officials at the Children's Museum hope that a new home in Grant Park, just over a bridge from Millennium Park, would build on this success. But Tom Wolf of Friends of Downtown, a civic group, worries that the museum would be a precedent that would let other developers invade Grant Park.
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