FROM: Bob O'Neill of Grant Park Advisory Council (GPAC)
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
6:30pm
Daley Bicentennial Plaza Fieldhouse
337 E. Randolph ( just east of Columbus Drive)

Proposed Burnham Memorial in Grant Park

A $5 million, Daniel Burnham memorial is planned to be located in Grant Park in front of the north facade of the Field Museum at the terraced, open green space. Burnham strongly deserves to be honored in Grant Park, but is this the best location to do that? Where the much-celebrated axis of Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett’s world-famous Plan of Chicago meets the lake, Queen’s Landing and Buckingham Fountain remain cut off by 10 lanes of highway. The Lake Shore Drive street-level pedestrian/bike crossing was closed for safety reasons over 4 years ago. A grade-separated crossing is desperately needed and has very wide public support. Could a $5 million memorial be integrated into better honoring Burnham’s incredible legacy at a grade-separated crossing to our cherished lakefront elegantly connecting Buckingham Fountain to Lake Michigan? This is a site visited by millions of people each year. This would significantly help open the lakefront to pedestrians and bicyclists and at the same time honor Burnham and Chicago’s growing legacy as a green, pedestrian and bike-friendly city.

The proposed location at the north end of the Museum Campus was already a part of a recent $100 million public improvement project. The memorial would consist of two granite walls. It will also include a life-size statue of Daniel Burnham. The presentation will be made by the winning architect and the Burnham Memorial Committee.