A recap of one of many fantastic articles by Lynn Becker on the whole CCM/Pritzker debacle ....(this one always makes me smile)

"Here's something that is sad, perhaps even tragic: a great Chicago family that has become so obsessed with winning that its willing to trash a deep reservoir of good will, earned over decades, for a specious campaign cynically conceived to inflame racial tensions as a tactic to divert attention from discussion of the real issue: a private institution seeking to replace open, free public space with 100,000 square feet of new construction with an $8.00 admission charge.

Memo to Gigi Pritzker: if you really, as you keep saying, want to refocus the debate over the museum to the real issues and not make it all about race, stop talking nonstop about race."

http://arcchicago.blogspot.com/2007/...richard-m.html

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Parkshore Gal
SAVEGRANTPARK.ORG

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...,7340393.story

"Chicago Children's Museum, Round 2: Following last fall's fireworks, when Mayor Richard Daley suggested that neighbors fighting the museum's plan to move from Navy Pier to Grant Park were racist, the museum has been shopping its scheme for a mostly underground facility to alderman to "build citywide support." Translation: The museum is trying to make an end run around Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), who opposes the plan on the grounds that it would undermine the tradition of keeping Grant Park "forever open, clear and free." No date is set for a Chicago Plan Commission or City Council vote on the plan, designed by Chicago architects Mark Sexton and Ron Kreuck."

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Parkshore Gal
SAVEGRANTPARK.ORG

Thanks good article. A bruising debate, huh?

I like this article, not sure where it originally appeared --

Mayor Daley's comments are unconscionable

"The Navy Pier museum has been the center of a heated discussion since September when it was reported that Daley suggested race was a factor for residents' opposition toward the plans to build at Daley Bicentennial Plaza in Grant Park.

"I was in support of the living wage ordinance and what he did to that is the same thing he did here, which is to accuse the people of being racists," Preckwinle said. "So, this is old news as far as I'm concerned."

An article in the Chicago Tribune's tempo section talks about how maps shape the landscape and includes a couple paragraphs about the Children's Museum --

Made by a map -- chicagotribune.com

"A 172-year-old map is at the center of the ongoing dispute in Chicago about building the new Children's Museum in Grant Park."

On the map, in an empty space designating a stretch of lakefront between Madison Street and 12th Street (now Roosevelt Road), the men wrote: "Public Ground -- A Common to remain forever Open, Clear & free of any buildings, or other Obstructions Whatever."

"The result, ultimately, was Chicago's verdant expanse of lakeshore parks, providing restful glens, refreshing swimming beaches and open space.

"The map "became a rallying point" for those fighting to keep the lakefront public, according to John Russick, a historian at the Chicago History Museum. One was Aaron Montgomery Ward who, between 1890 and 1911, went to court four times on behalf of an open lakefront and four times won victories in the Illinois Supreme Court. Another was Daniel H. Burnham whose Plan of Chicago (1909), written with Edward H. Bennett, envisioned the lakefront as a playground for the entire city.

"In recent months, the 1836 map has again become a rallying point for those opposing construction of the Children's Museum in Grant Park.

"However, supporters of the plan, including Lois Wille, a former Pulitzer Prize-winning Tribune editorial writer and the author of "Forever Open, Clear and Free" (University of Chicago Press, 1972), the history of the lakefront, argue that the museum would fit the spirit of the map's "public ground" designation. In addition, they say it wouldn't be tall enough to obstruct views of Lake Michigan."

http://www.suntimes.com/business/745...otel17.article

Will city defy Congress pickets?
HOTEL | Owners seek approval to add up to 5 floors

"Also, Ald. Robert Fioretti, whose 2nd Ward includes the hotel, said he opposes the expansion. It's rare for a mayor to ignore aldermanic wishes on a zoning deal, but Daley has campaigned to put a new Chicago Children's Museum in Grant Park over another alderman's objections."


http://www.chicagojournal.com/main.a...77&TM=83020.94

Groups launch 2008 goals
Community organizations work on ongoing, new projects

"The most controversial issue of 2007 for Grant Park has been the proposal to build a new facility at Bicentennial Plaza, right near Columbus and Randolph, for the Chicago Children's Museum, which currently resides on Navy Pier. The Grant Park Advisory Council and Conservancy along with Mayor Richard M. Daley support the proposal, while 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly is opposed. O'Neill said they will continue to support the move in 2008.
"We're going to continue to get the Daley Bicentennial field house rebuilt and support for the Children's Museum with a very green design moving into that location at Randolph," O'Neill said."

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Parkshore Gal
SAVEGRANTPARK.ORG

Preservation Chicago speaks out

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-preservation_webjan29,0,6495342.story

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Parkshore Gal
SAVEGRANTPARK.ORG

I've seen a few shots like the one taken over Daley Plaza / that end of Grant Park.

Do you think it was taken from 340 on the Park or Blue Cross Blue Shield?

Also, I wonder if Blaire Kamin and Lynn Becker are influential members of Preservation Chicago or how much their views led the the decision by Preservation Chicago...

Eric