JACKSON PARK WATCH UPDATE, June 26, 2021

Greetings, all,  

POP says Stop! 

As has been briefly reported in the Hyde Park Herald, attorneys for Protect Our Parks (POP) and six other plaintiffs filed a new Motion for Preliminary Injunction  in U.S. District Court on June 15.  The Motion seeks a halt to all construction work relating to the placement of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park pending the final resolution of the Complaint filed by POP on April 14.  That Complaint challenges the processes and determinations of the federal agencies that reviewed the proposal for the OPC (summary in  May 3 Update).  A hearing date has not yet been set for the Complaint due partly to counter tactics employed by the Defendants.  In the meantime, the Obama Foundation and City have announced an August start date for road work to accommodate the OPC and a September groundbreaking on the OPC site.  The POP Motion argues that all such work would be premature and permanently harmful.

In support of its new Motion, POP submitted a Brief (that label being a legal in-joke) that explains why its earlier Complaint will likely be upheld and documents in detail the harm that would be incurred if construction were allowed to proceed with no restrictions.  A third part of the submission  Exhibits  presents statements and reports that are quoted or otherwise referenced in the Brief.

We hesitate to ask that you read all of the POP documents, but we do recommend a perusal of the Brief and call special attention to the statement by one of the plaintiffs, W.J.T. Mitchell.  Labeled as  Exhibit 2, it is  a clear and concise  account of what’s at stake should the digging start.

The still unanswered question:  Why Jackson Park?

Professor Mitchell has written not only to the federal court, but also to the wider readership of the Hyde Park Herald, where he presents a challenge to the Obama Foundation to have a face-to-face discussion with critics of the current plan for the OPC to discuss the basic question:  Why Jackson Park?   

There are many supporters of President Obama and of the OPC who remain befuddled by the choice of a site that is unnecessarily expensive (for the Foundation and for the City) and park-destructive when there are other equally prominent non-park locations on the South Side that would be less costly, more accessible and more economically impactful.

If you are among the befuddled, we urge you to follow Professor Mitchell’s suggestion to write to the Herald  (letters@hpherald.com ) and the Obama Foundation (mstrautmanis@obama.org )  with a call for a public discussion.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!

Thanks to all who have supported us financially.  As always, we will welcome your contributions.  If you have any questions about contributing, please contact us at jacksonparkwatch@gmail.com and we will get back to you. 

You can contribute in three ways:
· You can contribute via checks made out to Jackson Park Watch sent directly to Jackson Park Watch, P.O. Box 15302, Chicago 60615.  
· You can contribute via PayPal here(If you encounter difficulties with PayPal, please let us know.)
·   You can contribute via checks from donor-directed funds sent to our fiscal sponsor Friends of the Parks at FOTP, 67 E. Madison St., Suite 1817, Chicago  IL 60602, ATTN Kevin Winters.  Such checks should be made out to FOTP with a note stating they are intended for Jackson Park Watch. 

As always, we thank you.

Brenda Nelms and Jack Spicer
Co-presidents, Jackson Park Watch
www.jacksonparkwatch.org
jacksonparkwatch@gmail.com

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