Politics
A Tunnel Under DuSable LSD and Parkland Over Rail Tracks Among the Ideas in Updated Vision for Grant Park
Video: Joining “Chicago Tonight” are Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, general superintendent and CEO of the Chicago Park District, and Leslie Recht, president of the Grant Park Advisory Council. (Produced by Blake Thor)
The Chicago Park District has unveiled a bold and ambitious updated framework plan for Grant Park, one full of ideas both big and small aimed at breathing new life into underused spaces while burnishing historic assets that have perhaps lost a little luster.
The new framework, presented to the public via Zoom on Wednesday evening, has been three years in the making and will guide development in Chicago’s “front yard” for the next two decades, building on a 2002 plan that delivered additions including Maggie Daley Park.
Several of the plan’s biggest swings tackle Grant Park’s wonky layout: 300-plus acres bisected by streets and railroad tracks. To create cohesion and a friendlier environment for pedestrians, one audacious proposal would send a portion of DuSable Lake Shore Drive underground in order to connect Buckingham Fountain with the lakefront.
Another would create an entirely new landscape feature, dubbed the Forest Line, out of thin air. This linear, north-south parkland would, like Millennium Park, be constructed as a deck over Metra tracks.
For now, the Forest Line and the DuSable Lake Shore Drive tunnel exist only in the imagination.
“These are not technical drawings. These are not engineering drawings that we’re going to go out and build tomorrow,” said Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, general superintendent and CEO of the Chicago Park District, as he kicked off the framework presentation. “This is a sketch of what we should aim toward. It’s our North Star.”
The previous framework plan for Grant Park was adopted in 2002 (top); the new vision unveiled in 2026 (bottom). (Courtesy of Chicago Park District)
Though it’s neither Chicago’s largest or most visited park, Grant Park is arguably the city’s most iconic green space, home to the instantly recognizable Buckingham Fountain and host of major events from papal masses to President Barack Obama’s election night acceptance speech.
That status has led most people to the false impression that Grant Park is flush with resources, said Leslie Recht, president of the Grant Park Advisory Council.
The reality is that programming and amenities, Recht said, haven’t kept pace with the boom in the area’s residential population. Existing infrastructure is in need of repair and mega-events not only close off the park to neighbors but incur damage that leaves areas of the park unusable for long stretches of time.
“The things that we want are bathrooms,” she said. “We need basic things in Grant Park.”
Those concerns have been addressed by the framework plan, which includes recommendations for restrooms throughout the park, as well as the creation of a dedicated festival grounds — with vastly improved drainage — and a neighborhood park that would remain accessible during large-scale events such as Lollapalooza.
These are the “pretty pictures,” Recht said. “But you have to get them paid for.”
In its presentation, representatives from the Park District and members of the framework plan’s design team emphasized that projects would be tackled in phases, over time, as funds become available.
The initial emphasis will be on visible improvements that add functionality, while more complicated projects will be undertaken in later phases, the district said.
To that end, the district announced it’s inaugurating the framework plan this spring by installing mobile seating around Buckingham Fountain, sponsored by Lollapalooza. Similar moveable seating arrangements, the district said, have been used with great success in New York’s Bryant Park and the Tuileries Garden in Paris, among others.
Rail lines that currently slice through Grant Park (top) would be decked over, similar to Millennium Park, creating what the Park District has dubbed the Forest Line. It’s one of the most ambitious proposals in the updated framework plan for Grant Park. (Courtesy of Chicago Park District)
The complete 100-page framework is available online. In it, the park is divided into zones including historic core, north, south and lakefront.
Feedback on proposals was gathered through multiple public and stakeholder meetings over three years, with the framework team amassing roughly 2,800 comments that guided which elements were incorporated into the final plan.
Here are some notable framework highlights:
— Columbus Drive is seen as an impediment to movement throughout the park. Recommendations are to put the drive on a “road diet,” shrinking the lanes for cars and adding a dedicated trolley lane, along with a dedicated bike lane.
— Congress Plaza would be restored to its intended glory as a major gateway to the park. Lawn terraces will be anchored by a cascading fountain that will serve as a counterpoint to Buckingham Fountain.
— On the north end, a pedestrian bridge over DuSable Lake Shore Drive would connect the park to the lakefront.
— The historic core will retain its formal landscape design, but fanning out to the north and south, plantings will be more naturalistic to increase biodiversity and support pollinators and other wildlife.
Congress Plaza as it stand now, left, and how it’s been reimagined as part of the new framework plan for Grant Park. (Courtesy of Chicago Park District)
An underutilized area of Grant Park at DuSable Harbor, left, could be renovated and made more accessible via a pedestrian bridge over DuSable Lake Shore Drive. (Courtesy Chicago Park District)
Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]
