Chicago is famous for its skyscrapers, but landscape architects have played an equal role in shaping the city. Experts will lead tours of dozens of open spaces Saturday and Sunday.

An independent engineering study has concluded Promontory Point’s limestone blocks are still functioning as ample shoreline protection, which refutes a longstanding position held by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The giant snapping turtle spotted in the Chicago River became a viral sensation this week. But the river is home to lots of wildlife, thanks to ongoing efforts to clean up the waterway.

More than 20 years after residents began their fight to save the stair-step limestone wall at Promontory Point on the south lakefront, the Point was declared an official Chicago Landmark during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

Fossils unearthed from Illinois’ famed Mazon Creek site have been sitting in collections misidentified for close to 50 years.

The Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of landmark status for Promontory Point.

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks has given Promontory Point preliminary landmark status. But the Park District board needs to consent to the designation as the next step in the process. 

A federal evaluation of Chicago’s shoreline by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will no longer include Promontory Point — because the Point is getting a review all its own.

Supporters of Promontory Point can breathe a sigh of relief that the peninsula's much loved stair-step limestone wall is poised, finally, to become protected from attempts to replace it with concrete.

The road to city landmark status for Promontory Point starts at Thursday’s meeting of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. Supporters have been fighting to protect the lakefront peninsula for more than 20 years.

Preservationists are pushing for Promontory Point to be granted Chicago landmark status. Will their case be heard?

We revisit a story about two men playing in the ice sheets of Lake Michigan in Hyde Park on their daily swim. Elizabeth Brackett reports. Read an article about the risks of swimming in cold water.

Back in 2012, we met two men – Greg Lane and Andre DeMar – who regularly swam in Lake Michigan, including during frigid Chicago winters. We spoke with Andre DeMar today to find out if he still swims in the frigid waters. It turns out he does. In fact, he swam in Lake Michigan this morning as the outside temperatures hovered around -2 degrees – without windchill. Read an interview.

We meet two men playing in the ice sheets of Lake Michigan in Hyde Park on their daily swim. Elizabeth Brackett reports.