To the Editor: There is good news and not-such-good news about the Osaka Japanese Garden and the Wooded Island. The good news is that it is very likely that the fence surrounding the Island and lagoon will come down sometime next month. The not-such-good-news, depending on one’s perspective, is that the occasion for this will(…)
Monthly Archives: September 2016
Jackson Park Watch Update – September 5, 2016
Greetings all,
Change of date for FOTP presentation on the Obama Libraryzz
Friends of the Parks’ Fall Netsch Lecture, to focus on the Obama Presidential Library, has been rescheduled to Thursday, September 29, at 12 noon at the Chicago Cultural Center. This is a free event, and we encourage you to attend if possible. Pre-registration is encouraged and will be available soon on the FOTP website ( https://fotp.org/ ), but is not required.
Yoko Ono sculpture going up soon; the outside fence may soon come down
We know that not everyone is a Facebook fan, but nonetheless we encourage you to take a look at our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/jacksonparkwatch, where you will find a picture of preparations for installation of the Yoko Ono Sky Landing sculpture. The old asphalt path along the west edge of the Osaka Japanese Garden has been taken out and will be replaced with sod. As the picture on Facebook shows, the area between the earthen mounds has been dug up and twelve concrete bases have been put in, one for each of the twelve tall, polished-metal “petals” that will be erected starting September 12.
In related news, we understand that the cyclone fence enclosing not only the Wooded Island but the entire lagoon will be taken down in the next weeks, but that a temporary fence will be erected around the Yoko Ono sculpture to protect it, presumably from visitors. We have also been told by Park District personnel with responsibilities for the project that in the foreseeable future the current fence around the Osaka Japanese Garden will come down and a new fence enclosing the Garden and sculpture will be built “to integrate the sculpture into the Garden.” We also understand that in the future there will be only one entrance into the new “modern” Garden. Based on past announcements by Project 120’s Bob Karr, we assume there will be a ceremony to officially unveil the Yoko Ono sculpture and hope that it will be open to the public.
As more information becomes available, we will let everyone know.
Brenda Nelms and Margaret Schmid
Coordinators
Jackson Park Watch
http://jacksonparkwatch.org
Like us on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/jacksonparkwatch