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Here are some updates on various things that have been happening on the South Side and with SSN4H.

POP lawsuit update

The Protect our Parks lawsuit, filed to prevent the siting of the Obama Presidential Center  in Jackson Park, will have a decision rendered on June 11th.  We encourage all OPC supporters to be present at the Federal Courthouse for this decision, and talk to the press that will be present about your reaction.

Details:  

6/11/19 at 11:00 a.m.

Courtroom 1203

Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse 

219 South Dearborn Street  Chicago, IL 60604 

see on map

Letter of Support Reaches ~550 signatures!

Thank you to all of you who have signed our letter of support, particularly our ~40 recent signers at the South Shore Summit!  Please help us get to 600 by forwarding this newsletter to your friends/family/neighbors!  You can sign our Letter of Support here.

Earth Day Community Conversation with Robert Rock, Principal at Living Habitats

 A discussion on how the OPC landscape design strategy will shape a small part of Jackson Park for our community‘s and our children’s future shaped by climate change.

Even with snowy weather outside, our Earth Day conversation with landscape architect Robert Rock helped us understand how the landscape design strategy for the Obama Presidential Center is mindful of climate change, migratory birds and stormwater runoff and reuse. Rock is a Principal at Living Habitats, a Chicago landscape architectural practice comprised of landscape architects and ecologists.  Their local knowledge and environmental underpinnings are an important part of the OPC landscape team, led by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates of Brooklyn, New York.  During our gathering we discussed the many steps the design team and the Obama Foundation are taking to ensure that the OPC will be integrated into this environmentally and historically significant site. Our discussion touched on the challenges of preserving the site as it exists today and the opportunities to both honor the heritage of the site while designing in our current era of climate change. Attendees were impressed by both the depth and thoughtfulness of the analysis that has gone into the landscape design strategy, particularly the point that the landscape is not only meant for "us" today, but rather is to last for generations of visitors and park users. 

Trees:  Mr. Rock answered questions about designing with the types of trees and plants that will be able to thrive as our climate changes as well as the state of the existing trees on the site.  He noted that the current condition of the trees on site was assessed in an initial survey by the Bartlett Tree Experts.  Nearly forty percent of the trees were determined by the arborist to be in decline or generally undesirable for a number of reasons. A separate tree and soil assessment by soil biologists and mycologist indicated that yet other trees were threatened by soil pathogens that have already damaged existing root structure. The landscape design strategy includes expanding the biodiversity of the vegetation represented on the project site (the tree survey revealed a serious lack of biodiversity as nearly half of the total number of existing trees fall into only three genera) and choosing species that can better withstand the anticipated extreme weather swings of climate change. Perhaps more importantly, the landscape design strategy will look at vegetation size and growth rates as a way of choreographing the changes in the landscape with time as a variable.   The vegetation being installed now will naturally grow and compete with other plants and other forces over time as the site matures and will continually evolve as a space that our children will enjoy when they are grown and will be experienced by the  generations that follow them.

Birds: We had an opportunity to discuss the migratory birds that frequent Jackson Park, and the steps that are being taken to actively design for this important park user. From the earliest stages of the design process, the landscape architects have been working closely with the building architects to identify potential hazards to birds and how to reduce the potential for bird strikes.  Some strategies were highlighted by members of the group, like the potential use of “bird-safe” glass that is visible to most species of birds and helps to minimize bird strikes. Rock noted that early design conversations have also included the reduction in blind corners on the buildings, which frequently confuse birds and lead to increased bird strikes, and the proximity of vegetation to windows.

Water: Plans for the OPC include an innovative strategy for stormwater management and reuse in which large areas of the site are designed to capture the 100 year storm (over 2 million gallons) and retain it for reuse within the park.  Harvested stormwater will be used as irrigation and for other grey-water reuse within the buildings. At the same time, the work done on the OPC project to harness and cleanse stormwater in this small portion of Jackson Park, will benefit adjacent spaces like the Lagoons where currently stormwater practice has allowed stormwater to drain directly from Cornell Ave adding trash, sediment, and other pollutants to the lagoon.

Soil:  Soils are a critical component of any landscape as they support a healthy and vibrant landscape.  The soils that exist on the site, most of which will need to be removed during construction, are layered with heritage elements both good and bad.  The good being the soil and root biology that has developed over many years in tandem with the vegetation; and the bad being the spoils from the years of change, construction, roadway expansion, demolition dating back to the massive change to transform this into the site of the World’s Columbian Exposition.  As yet another innovative strategy, the design team is working to harvest the heritage soil biology and preserve it during construction such that the new soils can be inoculated with this  heritage soil ecosystem. Doing so will help to support the new landscape as it becomes established and will further enhance the site’s microbial diversity while aiding in carbon sequestration.

Our next Community Conversation will be focused on Economic Development, featuring Mr. Ghian Foreman, CEO of Emerald South Economic Development Collaborative

June 29th, 1-3pm at the Jackson Park Fieldhouse

This second conversation will provide an opportunity for community residents to talk about the steps needed to ensure that the neighborhoods around the OPC will benefit from its construction and operation in Jackson Park. Foreman, who grew up in the Hyde Park – Kenwood area, has been a long time community leader, investor and developer on the south side. Come with your questions and ideas; further details will be posted on our website and included in our next newsletter.

Jackson Park Advisory Council Park Tour with State Senator Robert Peters

Saturday, April 27th, 2019

Jackson Park Advisory Council president Louise McCurry conducted a golf-cart tour of the park on Saturday, April 27th, for Senator Robert Peters (13thDistrict). 

Members of South Side Neighbors For Hope, Jackson Park Golf Association and JPAC spent several hours with Senator Peters discussing the economic and aesthetic importance of the park to surrounding communities and improvement plans for the park’s future well-being.  Golfers amongst the group were excited about the proposed renovations of the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses that would transition two 19th century courses into a single course more suitable for the game as played in the 21st century.   The renovation of the golf courses is part of the vision of the more widely conceived South Lakefront Framework Plan that McCurry explained within the overall context of the park’s other great features, many of which are in dire need of repair and improvement.

McCurry expertly shepherded the group through the golf courses from Jackson Park Golf Club to 63rd Street Beach, La Rabida Children’s Hospital and the South Shore Cultural Center, and then looped back to Wooded Island, the Osaka Japanese Garden and the disabled Clarence Darrow Bridge, whose closure has been limiting public access to the east side of the park for several years.  But perhaps the most alarming revelation of the tour was the extent of the devastation and degradation of the lakefront shoreline due to decades of neglect. 

While the need for repairs and improvements have been discussed for years, the coming of the Obama Presidential Center to the northwest corner of the park between 60th and 63rd Streets has been a recent major catalyst, motivating a renewed appreciation of Jackson Park's unparalleled assets and seeing them as a unified whole within the park’s combined 628 acres: an 18-hole golf course and golf driving range; swimming beaches and bathhouses; the Osaka Japanese Garden, lagoons and nature reserves; playing fields for activities as diverse as baseball, soccer, football, and lawn bowling; and even a yacht club and boat harbor.  But with this richness of resources sitting right on our doorstep, many are also just beginning to notice how much still needs to be done to rank Jackson Park as a world-class neighborhood and city treasure.  For a guided tour of Jackson Park such as this one, contact Louise McCurry at JPAC.

Upcoming Community Events

Strides for Peace 2019 Race Against Gun Violence

Thursday, June 6⋅6:30 – 8:30pm

Arvey Field in Grant Park

1501 S Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605, USA

Register here

Court Ruling on the Protect our Parks lawsuit

Tuesday, June 11⋅11:00am – 1:00pm

Courtroom 1203

Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse

219 South Dearborn Street Chicago, IL 60604

Community Conversation on Economic Development with Ghian Foreman, CEO of the Emerald South Economic Development Collaborative 

Saturday, June 29⋅1:00 – 3:00pm

Jackson Park Fieldhouse

6401 S Stony Island Ave, Chicago, IL 60637

For these and other events, check our Calendar on the website where you can directly add these events to your own Google Calendar.  

Five Things You Can Do NOW to Support the OPC

1. Tell your friends you support the OPC. Voicing your support to your personal network via email, social media, or even in person discussions boosts the energy of others and gets people off the fence. You can also follow us on social media (Facebook: SoSideN4Hope, and Twitter: @SoSideN4Hope).

2. Do your research. An informed supporter can dispel rumors and drum up positive enthusiasm around the topic. Use our SSN4H website as a resource. Any questions, ask us!

3. Participate in a walking tour of the site. Imagine yourself in the space and see where this development will be in Jackson Park. Information on walking tours is available by signing up for the JPAC newsletter here or following them on Twitter (@JacksonParkAC).

4. Visit Jackson Park. Go for a stroll, take your kids to the playground or your dog to Jackson Bark. Tour Wooded Island, go for a walk with the birders or visit the Japanese Garden. (Don’t forget the Purple Martin Houses south of the MSI lagoon!) There are so many exciting ways to use the park. See for yourself how great the addition of the OPC will be to Jackson Park.

5. Sign up for the Obama Foundation newsletter. Be among the first to know about the latest details. Follow the development of the OPC as it starts the spark of revitalization of Jackson Park and our surrounding communities. The newsletter also highlights the work the Foundation is doing directly in our communities, reinforcing its mission to make the South Side, and the world, a better place for us and our children.

GET INVOLVED

Please see our new GET INVOLVED page on our website. If you would like to advocate for the OPC or just get more involved with your community, please check out our new page with suggestions on how to get more involved. Included are links to our Letter of Support and suggestions about penning letters to the editor, joining Park Advisory Councils or volunteering with us or the Obama Foundation in programming to help make our communities stronger, safer and happier.

Download and post our Timuel Black and Five Things to Know posters and use them to engage/discuss the OPC with your family, friends and neighbors.

Letter of Support

Join nearly 550 UChicago and local community members to voice your support for the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. You can sign here.

Volunteer!

Please consider volunteering with us.  We are currently not accepting donations, however we welcome anyone with enthusiasm, diverse skill sets and hope for our future on the southside to work with us moving forward. Go to our volunteer page to sign up.

Please also follow us on Facebook and Twitter @SoSideN4Hope for more frequent updates!