As reports surfaced Thursday that the Bears were exploring Soldier Field’s south parking lot as a potential site for a new stadium, opposition immediately mobilized.
Juanita Irizarry
After eight years as executive director of Friends of the Parks, Juanita Irizarry is stepping down at the end of the year, telling WTTW News, “I’m looking forward to radical rest.”
Tensions remain as the fight over the building has been seen by some as a symbol of the struggle to maintain Humboldt Park’s longstanding Puerto Rican heritage in the face of gentrification.
More than a year after the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture began construction on a non-permitted facility in historic Humboldt Park, a community meeting has been scheduled to discuss the project's status and explore future possibilities for the structure.
State Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, says since profits from events go to the Chicago Park District’s general operations fund, the financial gains from Riot Fest don’t help his constituents directly. He has proposed a 2% community benefits tax.
The Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to build a 25-foot-tall “toxic tower” on Lake Michigan has hit a speed bump.
Grant Park could potentially be closed to the public for 40 days for July's NASCAR Chicago Street Race, including event setup and teardown. That's just one of many events blocking free access to the park this summer.
The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture leases a historic landmark building in Humboldt Park. It began construction on an adjacent archive facility without obtaining permits.
Vision includes ‘rewilding,’ creation of Climate Lab
The Museum Campus working group released its report Thursday and among the big wins for nature is a vision that includes establishing a Great Lakes Climate Lab on the city’s shoreline, positioning Chicago as a global leader in developing resilient solutions for urban areas.
Green space advocates are in agreement that the north star of a new working group tasked to "reimagine" the Museum Campus needs to be the Lakefront Protection Ordinance. In short: No new building construction.
Environmentalists Vow to Keep Fighting
A 20-year extension of the dump, operated by the Army Corps of Engineers to hold toxic sludge dredged from Lake Michigan, is still under review. The dump was supposed to be retired in 2022 and turned over to the Chicago Park District for redevelopment.
Longtime Chicago Park District Superintendent Michael Kelly’s resignation Saturday amid criticism he’s mishandled a wide-ranging sexual abuse scandal could portend future changes at the city’s sister agency.
The e-commerce giant recently began installing lockers inside Chicago parks, and says the lockers are a “secure and convenient” option. But that so-called convenience has proven controversial.
Metered parking is already in place at lakefront destinations like Rainbow Beach, North Avenue Beach, 31st Street Beach, 63rd Street Beach and Foster Avenue Beach. Now it’s coming to Montrose Harbor — and some residents aren’t happy about it.
Community organizers on Chicago’s Southeast Side are marshaling their forces and looking for solutions to address what they see as yet another environmental threat to their already beleaguered neighborhood.
Since the city shut down lakefront parks and other public spaces in March, there have been calls for more open spaces. But some advocates say that push overlooks the priorities of communities of color, which have been hardest hit by the coronavirus.
