The “Chicago Outdoor Film Festival” has started in Butler Field at Grant Park. The City of Chicago web site and more information can be found at www.chicagooutdoorfilmfestival.us

Double Indemnity - July 24 @ 8:50pm
Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck

Written on the Wind - July 31 @ 8:42pm
Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Dorothy Malone, Robert Stack

The Awful Truth - August 7 @ 8:34pm
Irene Dunne, Cary Grant

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - August 14 @ 8:24pm
Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katherine Ross

Sweet Smell of Success - August 21 @ 8:13pm
Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis

The Sound of Music - August 28 @ 8:01pm
Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer

Quotes:
[Double Indemnity stars] “…one of the smokiest, sexiest, most dangerous film noir femme fatales, Barbara Stanwyck.”
Michael Wilmington

Sponsors & Partners: Charles Schwab, Metromix, Chicago Transit Authority, WNUA 95.5, Chicago Park District, Time Out Chicago 

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.

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.

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