Politics
Protesters Disrupt Park District Board Meeting as Tensions Flare Over Looming Encampment Closure
A fire broke out in a homeless encampment along the North Shore Channel on July 28, 2025. (Crystin Immel / WTTW News)
Tensions boiled over during Wednesday’s monthly meeting of the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners, where advocates for the unhoused brought proceedings to a standstill as they protested the impending closure of a tent encampment in a North Side park.
Shouting broke out during the public comment portion of the meeting — including chants of “we need a place to sleep, not another sweep” — and Board President Marlon Everett eventually called for a recess after struggling to regain order.
At issue: a long-planned March 17 moving event at Legion Park, which straddles the east and west banks of the North Shore Channel in Chicago’s North Park, Lincoln Square and West Ridge neighborhoods.
The Legion Park encampment, primarily centered in North Park on the channel’s west side, has become a flash point for several reasons including numerous fires caused by propane tanks in tents. The park’s configuration has also caused tents to be wedged in a narrow strip between the channel’s banks and a residential street.
For months, people who live near the encampment have raised safety concerns at Park District board meetings and requested housing for the people living in tents. Meanwhile, advocates for the unhoused have lobbied the Park District for expanded encampment services within parks, including access to electricity, showers and restrooms, as well as an area for cooking.
“Every park should be a refuge for the unhoused,” Peter Dorman, an advocate with the group Parks for All, said at Wednesday’s meeting.
The Park District has been caught in the middle, operating on a “housing first” approach while also under pressure to adhere to state law, which prohibits overnight camping in Chicago’s parks.
Signs posted in Legion Park announce the Park District’s intention to enforce restrictions against camping, as of March 17. Advocates for the unhoused are demanding that a tent encampment in the park be allowed to remain. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
The question for the district has become “How do we lead with values and solutions?” CEO and General Superintendent Carlos Ramirez-Rosa told commissioners once the board meeting resumed Wednesday.
In January, the district released its newly crafted policies and protocols surrounding encampments. This document, Ramirez-Rosa said, includes objectives and criteria for closing encampments, and Legion Park was identified as a priority under those guidelines.
Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) has been engaged with encampment residents daily, and during a housing event in late February, the vast majority of individuals were matched with a unit, according to Ramirez-Rosa.
Bridge housing options were identified for people to cover the timeframe between the encampment’s closure and the availability of their unit, he said.
“These resources are very rare,” Ramirez-Rosa said, and he urged encampment residents to “please, please accept what is being offered.”
The disruption during Wednesday’s meeting stemmed from a demand for Ramirez-Rosa to hold an immediate conversation with the unhoused advocates and encampment residents who had traveled to the meeting.
The superintendent said he wanted representatives from DFSS to be part of any such communication, as they are the ones privy to the status of individual case files. Nor was he willing to pause the board meeting’s agenda, which included important votes on food contracts for the district’s summer children’s camps.
His intention, Ramirez-Rosa said, was to meet with encampment residents and DFSS during the upcoming weekend.
The remainder of the board meeting concluded without incident.
Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]
