In this month’s Chicago City Briefing from the Economist –

• Chicago has won out over Las Angeles for country’s bid to be host for the 2016 Olympics. The final decision will be made in 2009 among other international cities likely to include Rome and Tokyo.
• The CTA’s construction projects this summer will delay commuters who use the Red, Brown, and Purple lines. Construction will continue through 2009.
• Donald Walsh, assistant deputy chief paramedic, “retired” on April 30th after being accused of racial discrimination.
• Virgin airlines has launches direct, non-stop flights between Chicago and London’s Heathrow airport. (Check out Virgin Atlantic’s amenities). Virgin originally pulled out of the Chicago market after 9/11.

For more information, see the briefing at http://www.economist.com/cities/briefing.cfm?city_id=CHI

There will be a New Eastside Association of Residents (NEAR) on May 1st at 222 N. Columbus Dr.

 Present will be Brendan Reilly, Alderman-elect of the 42nd Ward as well as the Executive Director of the Loop Alliance Ty Tabing.

 Other presenters will talk about Grant Park and Daley Bicentennial Plaza summer programs as well as city-wide summer programs and events.

 More information — http://forums.new-eastside.com/index.php/topic,110.0.html

Earth Day Celebration with ComEd and Exelon

This Saturday from 9 to 11 am volunteers are welcome to help mulch trees and cleaning Grant Park. Meet at Daley Bicennteniel Plaza.

“We will be mulching trees (by working with the Chicago Park District, we have worked to get 1000′s of trees planted in Grant Park, close to two thousand in the last year). We will also be picking up left-over winter litter and debris.”

More information – http://forums.new-eastside.com/index.php/topic,109.0.html

This month in the Economist’s Chicago City Briefing there are articles about the $12m political hiring settlement, Barack Obama’s endorsement of Dorothy Tillman of the 3rd Ward, Anthony Abbate a police officer from Chicago who is facing a charge of aggravated battery, and more on the Chicago Spire.

“Mr Calatrava has won both notoriety and critical acclaim for his designs, most of which have been built in Spain and Switzerland. His first American commission, also in the Midwest, was for the Milwaukee Art Museum’s Quadracci Pavilion, which opened in 2001.”

Read more at — http://www.economist.com/cities/briefing.cfm?city_id=CHI

The Economist has published their monthly “Chicago City Briefing”. Topics include Daley’s re-election and challenges he is facing as he begins his sixth term, arrests made 2/21 for terrorist charges on the northwest side, Chicago’s Olympic Bid, and Aldermanic races in Chicago.

http://www.economist.com/cities/briefing.cfm?city_id=CHI

Bob O’Neill announced a joint meeting of the Grank Park Conservancy and the Grant Park Advisory Council to discuss topics related to 2016 Olympics, plans for a new Metra Station (renovation) in Grant Park, and an update on Hutchinson Field.

See the announcements section for more information –

Grant Park meeting 

There was a comment that the neighborhood does not have bus service to Ogden school. Free bussing existed in the past, but just this year the school district stopped providing bus service to the New Eastside neighborhood. New Eastside is in a big hole with no public school, also there is no local magnet or private school.
 
Natarus insisted that no one has “done more than me” in advocating for local eductional issues. He noted that the bond issue is done and they only need to let the contracts out to float the bonds to fund the Ogden school reconstruction and the construction of the new school in the New Eastside. Natarus insisted that the neighborhood will get back bus service.
 
Reilly stated that the bussing issue is a perfect sort of opportunity for the Alderman to step up and talk with the Chicago Public School system.
 
There was a question about whether the proposed pedway could introduce problems with flooding or attract homeless. The proposed pedways would be elevated, underneath the upper roadways, it would not be underground so there would be no issue with flooding. Regarding security, both candidates mentioned that keycards or other means could be used to restrict access to the buildings or to the pedway itself.
 
There was a suggestion that Northerly Island may be suitable for the Children’s Museum location. Natarus felt that the location is too remote. Reilly mentioned that the Museum Campus is probably a preferable location but that doesn’t work out, “why not?” consider Meigs Field (Northerly Island).
 
Someone commented about the noise levels at this past year’s Lollapalooza festival. Natarus said that he will try to keep a clamp on this; the city has noise laws and the environmental inspectors have to watch each event. The problem is that the department is small, it needs more inspectors who are able to come out at night. It was noted that the Lollapalooza festival was approved for four more years.
 
Finally, there were some more discussion about the neighborhood school. A charter member of GPAC said that according to a past meeting or meetings of GPAC, it was stated that the very first building of the Lakeshore East development would be the school. Natarus said that Magellan’s check is not enough for the school and that is has been in the CPS and City of Chicago’s court. However, now that Natarus has passed the bond issue, we can move forward with floating the bonds and getting the government portion of the funding to start construction.

Third of five questions presented to the Aldermanic candidates at a NEAR meeting last week. 

What plans do you have with the Chicago Park District to secure funding to improve the physical condition of they Daley Bi-Centennial Plaza Fieldhouse and do you have any timetable for the improvements?
 
Reilly recommended that he would try to get money from the state for the renovation and mentioned that he has a good relationship with our State Representative.
 
Natarus was careful not to make promises he could not keep but pomised to be creative about finding a solution for this. He suggested that the developer of the next high-rise that is put up in the area could be asked to chip in with a contribution for the renovation. He mentioned that the Park District does not have a good funding mechanism. He said that this is a top priority but that he will make no false promises.

This is the first of five questions presented to the Aldermanic candidates last week at a meeting hosted by NEAR.

If the Children’s Museum relocates from its current home at Navy Pier, do you have any locations you support or oppose?
 
The Chicago Children’s Museum (CCM) originally planned to move to the Daley Fieldhouse location; however the proposal met fierce opposition from local residents. Ward showed photographs of the Fieldhouse and the new proposed location at the NE corner of Columbus and Monro. The mentioned that concern has been expressed about having the CCM move into Grant Park would open the floodgates to more museums moving into Grant Park. Ward outlined however how only one other location in Grant Park, also along the north side of Monro Dr. could be suitable for a “below-grade” building.
 
Natarus mentioned that the Monro Dr. location was recommended by Daley. A number of organizations oppose putting the museum on Monro Dr. such as the the Grant Park Advisory Council (GPAC) and Friends of Grant Park. Natarus says he sees two possibilities: they could try relocating the Children’s Museum down to the Museum Campus by the Shedd Aquarium or they might stay put at Navy Pier.
 
Reilly agreed with Natarus that the Museum Campus is a good location and that he does not like the Monro Dr. location.

This is the first of five questions presented to the Aldermanic candidates last week at a meeting hosted by NEAR and moderated by NEAR President Richard Ward. Stay tuned this week as our complete report is posted. 

What plans do you have to minimize disruption of the neighborhood during the Monro Street garage renovation?

Richard Ward presented photographs of the state of the garage’s deterioration and reported that from his observation it was his opinion that there is a need to rebuild the garage. The garage was originally constructed back in 1976 or 1978. The garage is rectangular and encompasses the entire block bounded by Randolph St., Columbus Dr., Monro Dr., and the walkway where Lake Shore Drive used to be twenty some years ago, i.e. the Cancer Survivors Plaza. The northeast corner is approximately where the playground is next to the skating rink and the Daley Fieldhouse.

It is a large area and during the construction all of the following will likely be disrupted at one point or another: the children’s playground, skating rink, tennis courts, the BP/Gehry bridge and possibly access to the Daley Fieldhouse.

Reilly noted that the Fieldhouse will not be torn down or displaced as part of the garage reconstruction. His suggestion was that he would recommend to phase in reconstruction of the garage if financially feasible.

Natarus stated that the reconstruction will be done in phases under the supervision of the transportation department and that he will do everything he can to minimize the dust and debris caused by the construction.

The Chicago Olympic bid has drawn interest from several Chicago developers who might help to make the large-scale development happen. 

The Chicago Sun-Times writes – “Because the housing would be needed for the athletes, developers would have to build it regardless of advance sales of the homes. Most large-scale projects, such as the successful Lakeshore East, can advance a building at a time, selling out one before starting work on the next.”

More information at – http://www.suntimes.com:80/business/228145,CST-FIN-develop25.article

Other developers have expressed skepticism – “One of Chicago’s most active builders, requesting anonymity forear of riling City Hall, said anybody who takes on the housing project will be lucky to break even. “I can just see how this will work. You get cost overruns and the developer has to eat them.” 

The New Eastside Association of Residents will be hosting a meeting to review neighborhood events in the past year. The meeting will be helpd Wednesday night at 7 PM in the 400 East Randolph Hospitality Room.

The three candidates for 42nd Ward Alderman will also be present and will address questions on the following topics: Monroe Street Garage Renovation, Chicago Children’s Museum Relocation, Daley Bi-Centennial Fieldhouse Renovation Plans, and the Pedway Extension.

See more information in the Announcements board –

http://forums.new-eastside.com/index.php/topic,98.0.html

Elections are coming up for Chicago Mayor, Clerk, Treasurer and Alderman. It is a Municipal General Election to be held on February 27th. A full list of candidates can be seen on the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners web site at
http://www.chicagoelections.com/docs/CandidateBalOrder.pdf. (If this link above does not work you can view Google’s cache of the document in html format by going to here and clicking on View As HTML).

There are a few challengers to Richard M. Daley for Mayor including William Walls, III; Syron M. Smith, and Dorothy A. Brown.

Alderman Burton F. Natarus of the 42nd Ward which includes the New Eastside neighborhood and much of downtown and Grant Park faces two challengers: Brendan Reilly and Mike “Libby” Libert.
You can verify that you are registered and also find the forms to send in to register on the Chicago Elections website. See: http://www.chicagoelections.com/voter_registration_form.htm

According to some of the posts at http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/IL-Chicago-Millenium-Park-Plaza.html, a new high rise is planned for the space between Millennium Park Plaza and Randolph, where La Strada is currently located. I wouldn’t have thought there is enough space there to contruct a new high rise. Units facing south will lose their view of the park.

I found a Sun-Time article discussing the development –
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20060801/ai_n16652488
“Bob O’Neill, president of the Grant Park Advisory Council, said the quality of the architecture will make or break the project. “Millions of people will be looking up at that building. It should be close to a work of art.”

It would join a vista from the park that includes the One and Two Prudential Plaza buildings, Aon Center and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Building that is due for a 24-story addition. A block to the north are two development sites: one due to get a 65-story Mandarin Oriental hotel and another that’s a possible expansion site for the Fairmont Hotel. “

I have reported on this previously although I have not stressed it — the Monro East garage will soon be dug up down four levels and everything on top (tennis courts, playground) will be gone! for a couple or more of years. This is part of the 99-year lease deal of all of the Grant Park garages to Morgan Stanley approved a couple weeks ago.

It is not unexpected as the South and North (Millenium Park) garages were recently reconstructed and Monro East is next on the list, although the reconstruction might be considered a bit premature, it could last another 10 or 20 years ?

Personally I don’t care about the short-term loss of the tennis courts so much, but I think there should be some serious consideration to build a temporary playground for the kids during the couple or few years of construction. Note that the Lakeshore East playground is only for very young kids, the playground in Grant Park is much more varied, the equipment/installations are rated 2-5 years and 5-12 years. The Lakeshore East park equipment is for toddlers.

end editorial – Eric

Just before Halloween, “Agora” started to be unveiled on the southwest corner of Grant Park (approximately the opposite end of the New Eastside residential area which includes Lakeshore East).

I had a chance to speak with a woman at a recent Grant Park Conservancy meeting who filled me in on some details.

The artist is a friend of Frank Gehry’s and it is partly due to his design on Millenium Park that led to her being invited to install Agora. Over 100 headless, armless permanent sculptures are being installed in stages as the 9-foot tall structures can only be brought in a couple or few per day. The sculptures are designed to be walked around and in some sense no Grant Park ground is being given up for the art, as you can walk between the sculptures.

I joked that the area can still be used and in fact has been enhanced by the installation for the purpose of Frisbee golf. – Eric

There is more information in a recent article from the Sun Times.

From the Chicago Tribune — “Under the 99-year deal, Morgan Stanley will lease the Millennium Park Garage from the city and the Grant Park North, Grant Park South and East Monroe Street Garages from the Park District. Most of the proceeds will be used to retire debt on the garages and to make improvements in neighborhood parks.

“Mayor Richard Daley acknowledged the “emotional debate” but asserted that the lease represents “an outstanding deal for the taxpayers of the city of Chicago” and an opportunity to improve the parks.”

Click here to read more on the Chicago Tribune.

Despite the mayor’s comment about improving the parks… according to reports at a recent NEAR meeting, as part of the East Monroe Street garage reconstruction, the Park District Fieldhouse at the Daley Bicentenniel Plaza will be demolished and Morgan Stanley is not planning to rebuild it. – Eric

More from the Chicago Tribune –“Of the transaction total, $122 million would go toward improving neighborhood parks citywide over the next two years.”

Monday October 30th article in the Tribune.

From the Chicago Tribune — “$563 million plan would let private firm take over 4 facilities and perhaps raise their parking fees”

“$35 million would go to rebuild Daley Bicentennial Park after the reconstruction of the East Monroe garage, which lies beneath it”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0610140215oct14,1,2248865.story

According to Natarus who spoke at the recent NEAR meeting, there are presently no plans to reconstruct the Fieldhouse at the Daley Bi Plaza which will be torn down as part of the reconstruction of the East Monroe garage.

From Chicago Sun-Times –

“BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter
It’s only rock and roll, so the song goes. But when it comes to an annual music festival held in Grant Park, some neighbors just hate it — at least at Lollapalooza levels.

“The Chicago Park District board on Wednesday OKd a five-year, $5 million deal with the producers of the three-day Lollapalooza festival, a move officials lauded as a fresh cash infusion for district-wide park improvements but derided by one neighborhood group as guaranteed racket.”

Read the full article.

Grant Park Advisory Council public meeting

Chicago Children’s Museum’s proposed, two-story new building for Grant Park

Monday, October 16, 2006 – 6:30 p.m.

Daley Bicentennial Plaza – 337 E. Randolph just east of Columbus Drive.

The Chicago Children’s Museum has proposed building a two-story building on the northeast corner of Monroe Street and Columbus Drive in Grant Park. This would be diagonally across from the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago currently under construction.

We need to hear from you at this first, public meeting on the proposed building for Grant Park.

We will also give a complete update of the new “Agora” sculpture installation that is under construction at the south end of Grant Park. It will be 106, 9-feet-tall, metal figures installed this month and next.

Thank you very much for your interest and participation.

Phone: Bob O’Neill …312-829-8015

Email: boboneill@grantparkconservancy.com