Greetings, all!

In this Update:

• The Section 106 review process is resuming: what comes next?
• Underscoring the importance of the Nature Sanctuary

What’s next in the Section 106 review

In mid-December, we noted that the Section 106 review seemed to have stalled.  The Tribune’s article headed “Timetable for Obama Center still uncertain”  made the same point, and that perspective was shared in other media outlets as well.

Perhaps prompted by the questions from reporters, the City recently notified Section 106 consulting parties that the review process would soon resume, and just yesterday, on January 10,  the City announced that the revised draft Assessment of Effects (AOE) report would be released to consulting parties and also posted on the City’s web site on Thursday, January 16.  It also announced that the previously postponed webinar for consulting parties (see below) would take place on Thursday, January 23.

As the Section 106 review resumes, what should happen?

The Section 106 review process is intended to be a dynamic process in which opinions are exchanged and alternatives explored, rather than a bureaucratic exercise.  Veterans of the Section 106 process in other settings report that what should happen next is agreement on the extent and nature of the adverse impacts.  After that should come actual discussion between, on the one hand, the City (the sponsor of the proposed changes, albeit on behalf of the Obama Foundation) and the Federal Highway Administration (the lead federal agency on the Section 106 review), and, on the other hand, the various consulting parties, as to how to “resolve” the adverse impacts via avoidance, minimization, or, failing those, mitigation. 

Participants in the Section 106 review to date know that, as was typical for the City under recent mayors, “public input” has thus far been hampered by a format of large meetings with staged presentations and limited public Q & A.  While interested parties could and did submit written comments, there have been few if any responses to any of them.   As with many of the City’s past meetings on other large-scale projects, the Section 106 sessions for the OPC have appeared designed to enable the City to check off the “public participation” box rather than to actually solicit, consider, and respond to community questions and concerns.  There has been no actual discussion between the City and FHWA, on the one hand, and JPW or any of the consulting parties we work with, on the other.  There has been no exploration of alternate ways to move the project ahead.  

In order for the Section 106 review of the OPC to proceed on to a fruitful conclusion that will allow construction of the OPC to proceed, however modified, actual dialogue must begin.  We are hopeful that, with the new mayoral administration and a newly revised draft AOE, this will now be the case. 

The number and severity of adverse impacts that the current design of the OPC and related road changes would have on Jackson Park make it unlikely that the project could proceed without significant changes.  We note that additional adverse impacts beyond those noted in the initial draft Assessment of Effects (AOE) report are likely to have been identified after the information requested by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation in late August is provided and the comments submitted by the consulting parties have been taken into account. The intent of the Section 106 review is to come to agreement through discussion as to how a proposal that would have adverse impacts on a protected property (Jackson Park in this instance) can best be modified to allow the proposed project (the OPC and the road changes in this instance) to proceed.  Alternatives should be explored.  Compromise is anticipated. 

 Some details

To recap, the initial draft Assessment of Effects report, a key step in the Section 106 review, was released July 29.  A public meeting and a consulting parties meeting were held August 5 (for more details see JPW Updates for July 29 and themonth of August, 2019).  Subsequently, two meetings with consulting parties were scheduled and then postponed. 

Now that the Section 106 review is resuming, we anticipate that the process will follow this previously announced sequence of steps:

Discussion of the revised draft AOE report  
*Indeed, the January 23 webinar meeting for consulting parties, led by the City and the FHWA, will discuss a revised draft AOE report.  We and others will look to see whether the revised draft is responsive to the comments previously submitted by consulting parties and to the information provided pursuant to the ACHP request in August.  

Agreement on the identified adverse impacts:  
* Following the webinar meeting, the City and FHWA will prepare a final AOE report and make it available to consulting parties for an additional 30-day review period.  
* Consulting parties’ concerns and disagreements with the proposed final report will then be resolved via discussions with the FHWA, or,
* If those discussions are unsuccessful, the differences will be resolved via review by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). 

“Resolving” the adverse effects.
* Once all disagreements about the text of the AOE report are settled, the review process will then move on to discussions of how to resolve the adverse effects. 
* Attempts to resolve the adverse effects must first address how to “avoid” any adverse effects, next how to “minimize” them, and finally how to “mitigate” them.  

Final MOA
* The final outcome of the process will be a Memorandum of Agreement outlining how the OPC will move forward, including any agreed-upon modifications to the design of the site regarding road layout, acreage, and building design.  It will be signed, in this instance, by the City, the FHWA, the National Park Service, and the Illinois State Historic Preservation Officer (this office has been involved each step of the way).
* If those discussions were to be unsuccessful, something that would be quite rare, the ACHP would be required to provide formal advisory comments to the lead agency, FHWA, for its consideration.

Underscoring the importance of the Nature Sanctuary

One issue related to the OPC project is the proposal to merge and expand the existing Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses to create a new, pro-level course.  This proposal, also stalled, would entail destruction of the much-loved Nature Sanctuary immediately south and east of the South Shore Cultural Center. A recent piece in the Hyde Park Herald featured a biologist’s appraisal of the significance of the Nature Sanctuary to local wildlife.  A follow-up letter underscored the importance of the Nature Sanctuary to natural world and humans alike.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!

Thanks to all who have recently offered financial support.  As always, we welcome your contributions.  You can contribute in three ways:

• You can contribute via checks made out to Jackson Park Watch sent to directly to Jackson Park Watch, P.O. Box 15302, Chicago 60615. 
• You can contribute via PayPal here.
• You can contribute via checks from donor-directed funds sent to our fiscal sponsor Friends of the Parks at FOTP, 17 N. State St., Suite 1450, Chicago 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 Margaret Schmid
co-presidents
Jackson Park Watch
www.jacksonparkwatch.org
jacksonparkwatch@gmail.com

Hello again!

Hard on the heels of our JPW Update of yesterday (12/15), saying that the Section 106 process appears to be stalled, came today’s e-message from the City (see below).  So perhaps there has been movement behind the scenes after all.

We will see what this amount to and, as always, we will keep you posted.

Brenda Nelms and Margaret Schmid,
Co-presidents
Jackson Park Watch

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dear Consulting Parties,

Thank you for your patience as we work to refine the Assessment of Effects (AOE) under the Section 106 review of Federal Actions in and around Jackson Park. 

 We have nearly completed the necessary revisions to the draft AOE that you provided comment on in August 2019 and expect to make the final AOE available in early January 2020. We will also host a webinar to review the document changes with you at that time. Another notice with schedule details will be sent after the New Year.

 Separately, the Chicago Park District will issue a request for proposals (RFP)for certain utility relocation work in Jackson Park. The utilities on the OPC site serve other parts of Jackson Park and will need to be moved once Federal approvals have concluded. This RFP will identify the contractor who will oversee the utility relocation work.

Finally, we continue to work with Federal agencies on an Environmental Assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act and anticipate releasing that document to the public in early 2020 as well.

Thank you for your continued involvement in the project!

Abby Monroe | Public Participation Officer 

City of Chicago | Department of Planning and Development (DPD)
Bureau of Planning, Sustainability and Historic Preservation
121 North LaSalle, 10^th Floor, Suite 1000 | Chicago, IL 60602
Office: (312) 744-9416     abby.monroe@cityofchicago.org

Greetings, all!  Best wishes for a happy holiday season and the new year.

In this Update:

• Looking back: four years!
• Looking ahead: what’s next for the OPC, golf course projects
• Lake levels rising

FOUR YEARS!

As we move into 2020, JPW heads into its fifth year.  It is a good time to review objectives that still guide JPW’s work.  Our goals are to promote:

• transparency in decision-making about Jackson Park;
• meaningful community input on major changes to the Park;
• preservation of the Park as a democratic public space with priority to local uses and users; and
• development of one comprehensive plan for the entire Park.

JPW originated out of concerns about ill-defined plans for a visitor center and outdoor music venue adjacent to the Museum of Science and Industry put forward by a little known organization, Project 120.  JPW ultimately surfaced a secretive Agreement between the president of Project 120 and Park District CEO Mike Kelly giving Project 120 the green light for that project and other potential changes to the core of Jackson Park.  Community voices raised in response to JPW’s information put a brake on those plans; former President Obama’s announcement in summer of 2016 that he had chosen Jackson Park for the site of his Presidential Library (now Center) sidelined them indefinitely.  (Click here for more on Project 120 and its proposals.) 

As we enter year five, issues related to plans for the Obama Presidential Center and for its sister project, the merged/expanded golf course, are now front and center.

Looking ahead: what’s next for the OPC?

The Obama Presidential Center is currently on hold. The Obama Foundation cannot cut a tree or bring in a bulldozer.  No roads can be closed or reconfigured.  No construction can begin.  What will it take to move OPC plans ahead? and when? (Click here for JPW’s coverage of the OPC.) 

What?  No work can begin on the planned OPC until the completion of the federal reviews.  Even then, only if the completed reviews sign off on the project plans as they now stand, can the project move ahead without revisions.  

How likely is it that the federal reviews will green-light the OPC plans as they currently stand?  This is quite unclear, especially given that the draft Assessment of Effects report, released in late July, determined that the plans would have significant adverse impacts on Jackson Park and the fact that additional information on the potential impacts has been requested.   Stay tuned as this unfolds.

When?  Mayor Lori Lightfoot indicated in a recent meeting that the City wants to move the process ahead.  However, beyond the still unfinished Section 106 review, there are other mandated federal reviews to follow, including the NEPA environmental impact review, the Environmental Impact Statement that a project of this magnitude should require, and the 4(f) review of the planned road changes.  These additional reviews will take time.

Additionally, the Protect Our Parks lawsuit appeal is still alive and, given the significant delays noted above, may well be concluded in time to have an impact.  An eloquent recent op-ed in Crain’s by the lawyers managing the appeal, Richard Epstein and Michael Rachlis, spelled out the rationale behind the appeal.  Epstein’s description of the case in an earlier interview in the Hyde Park Herald ago gives another overview of the key elements of the appeal. 

Another voice: Discussion of the OPC and its siting in Jackson Park was recently enlivened by public remarks by Lee Bey, a noted African-American author, former Sun-Times architecture critic, and recent Vice-President of DuSable Museum.  In a November 26 appearance at the Silver Room on 53^rd street, Bey criticized the design saying “I think that that tower is foolishness…. It’s clad in limestone or granite; it’s shoved in this park.”  In comments that drew applause, Bey asserted that a location in Washington Park near the Garfield Green Line Station would be superior to the proposed Jackson Park location, and said that the OPC “is being oversold as a [economic[ catalyst.”

Looking ahead: what’s next for the golf course?

The golf course merger/expansion project, too, is on hold.

As recently reported, the SmithGroup’s engineering work on the design of the merged/expanded golf course has been put on hold by the Park District – back in February, it has become known.  Instead, SmithGroup now has a separate contract with the Park District to assess projected impacts to Park District property along the Chicago lakefront resulting from rising lake levels and the increasing number of extreme storms sparked by climate change and to develop a prioritized action plan, including potential sources of funding for work that will be required. While the golf course project has not been cancelled, it is definitely now on the backburner.

About those lake levels    

The news:  Lake levels in 2019 have equaled the record high levels of 1986; they are predicted to continue to rise; and it is unclear whether the agencies in charge of protecting Chicago’s lakefront have the resources to do the job.

High water levels are getting serious attention all around the Great Lakes region.  It was the topic of a meeting convened by Congressman Bobby Rush in Bronzeville on Monday, December 2, featuring representatives of the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Park District, and CDOT.  The Army Corps predicted that Lake Michigan levels will be higher next year than this year, but declined to make any longer-term forecasts and dodged discussion of climate change.  We note that Donald Trump has forbidden the military, of which the Army Corps is a part, from discussing climate change or using climate change information in its analysis or planning.

Corps personnel indicated a particular concern about the impact of storms and high waves combined with the high water levels on shoreline conditions and erosion.  Damage done on November 11 this year along S. Lake Shore Drive between 48^th and 51^st was cited as an example.  In response to questions, the Corps also identified some key limits on its work.  For one, the Army Corps is not authorized to assist private property owners. Further, Congressional action is required before the Corps can undertake any long-term protective measures to assist local governments, and local governmental units must exhaust their own funding sources before the Corps can step in.

The Army Corps, Park District, and CDOT asserted that all three entities are working together to assess the situation and plan next steps. As mentioned above in the golf course project section, the Park District has commissioned SmithGroup to develop a full assessment and a prioritized action plan.  Given that continually rising lake levels will affect Jackson Park beaches, our golf courses, the Jackson Park lagoons (which rise in tandem with the lake), S. Lake Shore Drive, and potentially even the plans for the OPC, we will track developments with interest and will share what we learn.   

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!

Thanks to all who offer financial support.  We welcome your contributions.  You can contribute in three ways:

• You can contribute via checks made out to Jackson Park Watch sent to directly to Jackson Park Watch, P.O. Box 15302, Chicago 60615. 
• You can contribute via PayPal here.
• You can contribute via checks from donor-directed funds sent to our fiscal sponsor Friends of the Parks at FOTP, 17 N. State St., Suite 1450, Chicago 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 Margaret Schmid

Co-presidents, Jackson Park Watch
www.jacksonparkwatch.org
jacksonparkwatch@gmail.com

Greetings, all!  Best wishes for a joyful Thanksgiving and, if you are traveling, for safe and happy travels!

CBA affordable housing issues appear to advance but no movement on OPC review

Despite some delays and disappointments, the CBA Coalition has continued to press ahead and their persistence and that of Aldermen Jeanette Taylor and Leslie Hairston now appears to have paid off.  Mayor Lori Lightfoot has expressed support for the underlying issues of insuring affordable housing and avoiding displacement.   Representatives of the City’s Law and Housing departments met with the aldermen to discuss how to address technical legal problems with the CBA ordinance that was introduced in July.  We’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, there has been no forward movement in the federal reviews related to the Obama Presidential Center itself.  After the chaotic August 5 public presentation of the draft Assessment of Effects to Historic Properties, a twice-postponed follow-up meeting of Section 106 consulting parties has still not been rescheduled.  No information about a possible date is available

Further, a review mandated by the National Environmental PolicyAct (NEPA) of 1966 must also be completed as part of the federal review. The conduct of the NEPA review itself is unclear because responsibility for its management shifted from the Federal Highway Administration to the National Park Service in mid-2018.  Initial NEPA documents done by the FHWA and the City before then attempt to gloss over the mandatory 4(f) review assessing alternatives to the major road changes planned to accommodate Obama Foundation wishes.  In addition, numerous consulting parties have argued that the NEPA review should include a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) because of the scale of the impact the proposed OPC would have on Jackson Park and the adjacent neighborhoods.

It is unclear what comes next.  All told, it appears likely that many more months of waiting are in store.

What’s up with the proposed golf course merger?

Here again is a project – announced with great fanfare back in December of 2016! – that has failed to move forward.

First there were two years of boosterish presentations and attempted fundraising.  Then in December 2018 the Park District hired SmithGroup, an engineering consulting firm, to prepare design and construction documents for the merger of the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses.  The 3-year contract anticipated that construction would begin in fall 2019 and the “golf package” would completed by fall 2021. 

Recently, however, Park District officials have reported that SmithGroup has been told to stop further work on the golf project because it was not clear when or if it was going forward.  Guiding the decision was the combination of weak fundraising by the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance, the uncertainty about key elements of the plan (e.g., the underpasses) as a result of the on-going federal reviews of the OPC plans, and the new, urgent focus by the Park District on shoreline problems along the entire lakefront.

The shift in focus and schedules was evident at the October 2019 meeting of the Park District board, when it approved a separate 3-year consulting contract with SmithGroup for development of Phase 1 of a Lakefront Strategic Action Plan that would address erosion problems along the entire Chicago lakefront, from Evanston to Indiana.   The work will include a comprehensive inventory analysis of existing conditions, a strategy for prioritizing improvements, and key ways to partner with other local, state, and federal agencies (e.g., US Army Corps of Engineers).  Future phases of the project will include detailed improvement strategies for specific sites along the lakefront, dependent on the availability of state and federal funding.  The seriousness of the shoreline problem has been highlighted in the Tribune and the Sun-Times , showing emergency work just launched in Rogers Park and noting plans for similar temporary fixes to be done on the south side, at 49^th Street and 67^th Street, in the next few weeks. 

So where does this leave the Tiger Woods golf project that is dependent on coastal improvements at South Shore?  Perhaps underwater, certainly in for a long delay.

MPAC officers re-elected after a battle

In what had become in effect a proxy war over the Obama Presidential Center, the incumbent officers of the Midway Plaisance Advisory Council were readily re-elected on November 13.  The MPAC connection to the OPC concerned the Obama Foundation’s proposal to utilize the east end of the Midway Plaisance for an above-ground parking garage, something that the officers and a majority of the membership opposed. A second connection was the subsequent attempt by the City of Chicago to designate that same area as “UPAAR replacement parkland,” a move that generated serious concerns by a large number of members and prompted the submission of a letter to the City objecting to any plan that would jeopardize the park’s listing on the National Register of Historical Places.  In response, a competing slate of officers had been nominated. 

The election meeting attracted close to 100 MPAC members and featured on-going attempts by some to delay or postpone the vote.  Less well known is that fact that those advocating delay had been lobbying Park District officials to cancel the meeting up until shortly before the meeting began, alleging various improper conduct by MPAC officers.  Upon review, the Park District officials had found that all notifications, procedures, and provisions for voting were in order, and the meeting proceeded as scheduled.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

As always, we welcome your financial support.  You can contribute in three ways:

• You can contribute via checks made out to Jackson Park Watch sent to directly to Jackson Park Watch, P.O. Box 15302, Chicago 60615. 
• You can contribute via PayPal here.
• You can contribute via checks from donor-directed funds sent to our fiscal sponsor Friends of the Parks at FOTP, 17 N. State St., Suite 1450, Chicago 60602, ATTN Kevin Winters.  Such checks should be made out to FOTP with a note stating they are intended for Jackson Park Watch. 

Once again, we thank you.

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

Greetings, all!

The Obama Foundation Summit
Protect Our Parks Appeal Brief Filed
Those Trees:  Worth saving?  Dying?  Healthy and mature?

The Message from the Obama Foundation Summit – Trust Us

The Obama Foundation hosted its third annual invitation-only Summit earlier this week, featuring celebrities, donors, and participants in its Obama Scholar programs.  Interviews with President and Mrs. Obama headlined the agenda, which had the theme of “Places Reveal our Purpose.”   As reported in BlockClubChicago and Crain’s, the Obamas reiterated their goal of replacing Jackson Park as it now is with a South Side version of the Museum Campus and Millennium Park.  They dismissed Jackson Park today as “underutilized” except by golfers and failed to acknowledge Olmsted’s vision for the park as an exceptional natural and open area offering respite from the congestion of urban life.   The Obamas repeated their assertion that the OPC would be an economic catalyst for the South Side, but offered no actual information as to how that could happen. Interestingly, when former President Obama described the OPC he stated “… we want this to be a university for activism and social change.”

In connection with the meeting, the Obama Foundation released revised designs for the Obama Presidential Campus, showing minor tweaks to the interior of the public library and the children’s playgrounds and some changes to the exterior of the massive 235-foot museum tower meant to make it less intimidating and more “elegant.”  The Tribune’s Blair Kamin concluded “there’s more work to be done,” and the architects have already said they are working on further refinements. 

So where do things stand? The federal reviews are on-going, albeit apparently stalled for now.  Community members continue to express strong reservations about the plans in letters and interviews.  The Protect Our Parks appeal continues (see below).  All in all, while there is overwhelming support for having the OPC on the South Side, the consequences of a top-down planning process that imposed an inappropriate design and major tax-payer-funded road changes on historic Jackson Park continue to play themselves out.  Had the Obamas chosen a different location, construction would be well underway.  Under the circumstances, “trust us” isn’t sufficient.

POP appeal brief filed

The Protect Our Parks brief outlining its appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit was filed October 25, emphasizing the core issue of appropriate stewardship by the City of invaluable public trust land.  It is this issue that JPW has consistently pointed to as making the POP efforts worthy of note.  A second issue highlighted in the appeal is whether, in leaving all decisions about the site selection and design of the OPC up to the Obama Foundation, the City engaged in an improper delegation of its authority and responsibilities.

The POP appeal brief is posted on the POP Lawsuit page on the JPW website.   The City and Park District now have until November 25 to file their response.  POP must then file a reply by December 16.  Sometime after that submission a date will be set for oral arguments, likely for late winter.  It will be heard by a panel of three appellate judges drawn from among the judges on the Seventh Circuit.  The identity of the designated judges will not be known in advance of the hearing.

On a related note, as reported in the August 16 JPW Update, after the Section 106 Assessment of Effects (AOE) report was released in late July, POP filed a motion to reopen the initial review under Judge Blakey to take into account the AOE report.  That motion is on hold pending action by Judge Blakey.

Dead and Dying OR Alive and Healthy?

Sharply divergent perspectives on the actual status of the proposed OPC site today were offered up in recent Crain’s Chicago Business pieces by two community members.  As is so often the case in public pronouncements made in our era, one had to wonder if the protagonists had the same space in mind. 

On the one hand was Louise McCurry, president of the Jackson Park Advisory Council, with   “The dirty little secret….”

And on the other hand was JPW’s Margaret Schmid with “I don’t recognize that park….”

 (A note to readers: we recognize that not everyone can get past Crain’s paywall.  We apologize in advance.  Schmid’s article refers to a professional study of the trees that now grow on the proposed OPC site that includes details about specific trees and maps of tree locations. We highly recommend it even if you cannot link to the Crain’s pieces.)

Divergent perspectives on the proposed OPC site were also evident on October 26 when a group of preservationists – led by Ross Peterson, former president of the  Jackson Park Advisory Council, and Herb Caplan of Protect Our Parks – gathered  there to tie red ribbons around the many mature trees throughout the park that would be removed to construct the OPC campus and the roadway reconfigurations it requires.   Seemingly unable to tolerate the demonstration, some community members removed the ribbons as rapidly as they were wrapped around the trees.  The Hyde Park Herald captured the standoff and the varying opinions.  The debate goes on.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

As always, we welcome your financial support.  You can contribute in three ways:

• You can contribute via checks made out to Jackson Park Watch sent to directly to Jackson Park Watch, P.O. Box 15302, Chicago 60615. 
• You can contribute via PayPal here.
• You can contribute via checks from donor-directed funds sent to our fiscal sponsor Friends of the Parks at FOTP, 17 N. State St., Suite 1450, Chicago 60602, ATTN Kevin Winters.  Such checks should be made out to FOTP with a note stating they are intended for Jackson Park Watch. 

Once again, we thank you.

Brenda Nelms and Margaret Schmid
co-presidents, Jackson Park Watch
www.jacksonparkwatch.org
jacksonparkwatch@gmail.com

Greetings, all!

In this Update:

• Next step in federal review of OPC postponed
• Who is on the ACHP, the federal agency responsible for the Section 106 federal review?
• The Obama Foundation’s invitation-only “Importance of Place” summit
• South Shore Nature Sanctuary Stewardship Team wins award 
• POP appeal brief to be submitted soon

Next step in Section 106 review of OPC postponed once more

The consulting party webinar meeting on the proposed Assessment of Effects (AOE) report that was set for next Wednesday, October 23, has now been postponed.  That session itself was originally set for September 23, as the follow-up on the public meetings held August 5.

Consulting parties learned the news in a message from the City on October 18 that said:

Thank you for your continued patience as we prepare for the next steps of the Section 106 process. Originally, we planned to host a webinar to update Consulting Parties on changes that would be made to the Assessment of Effects that would have been followed by issuing the revised document a few weeks later. We realize now, that it would be better for everyone if the revised Assessment of Effects were available in advance of the webinar so that the conversation can be well informed.

Therefore, we are cancelingthe webinar scheduled for next Wednesday (October 23) and will be sending additional communications shortly with a new webinar date and the accompanying documents for your review.

JPW anticipates that the revised AOE report will be available for an additional 30-day review period by the consulting parties.   Consulting parties’ concerns and disagreements with the proposed final report would then be resolved via discussions with the FHWA or, if those discussions were unsuccessful, by review by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP).  Once all disagreements about the text of the AOE report are resolved, the review process will then move on to discussions of how to resolve the adverse effects. 

The initial draft AOE report, released July 29, found that the OPC plan as currently proposed would have significant adverse effects on Jackson Park.  This central finding prompted significant criticisms by numerous consulting parties who, while agreeing with the central finding, argued that additional important issues and potential adverse effects had been ignored or misrepresented. Veterans of the Section 106 review process have suggested that comments in the 8/22 letter from the ACHP are the reason that the webinar has been scheduled and that additional opportunities for consulting parties to have input into the AOE have been provided.

As always, we will continue to keep you posted.

Who is on the ACHP? 

Until recently, few readers of JPW Updates had heard of  the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, an independent federal agency created by the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act to help ensure that federal agencies do not inadvertently destroy or harm landscapes, properties, buildings, or other crucial aspects of our nation’s cultural and historic heritage as they carry out their operations.  The ACHP’s mission is as follows: “ The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation promotes the preservation, enhancement, and sustainable use of our nation’s diverse historic resources, and advises the President and the Congress on national historic preservation policy.”

The ACHP has an experienced, professional staff that handles most ACHP business, the Council deals mainly with issues of policy or with the rare problematic cases that the staff has been unable to resolve.  The Council itself has 24 members designated by statute.  Questions have recently been raised as to who is on the ACHP and when they were appointed.  Here is the breakdown of the current Council members, taken from the ACHP website.

• Four members of the general public and four historic preservation experts including the chair and vice-chair are appointed by the President.  Of these eight, only one, the chair, has been appointed by President Trump; the seven others were appointed by former President Obama during his term in office.

• A member of an Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization, a governor, and a mayor are also appointed by the President.  Of these three, one is in place, and that individual was appointed by former President Obama.  The other two positions, those of governor and mayor, are currently vacant.

• Two federal agency heads (Agriculture and Interior) are permanent members along with the Architect of the Capital.

• Seven federal agency heads are designated by the President.  These are currently the heads of the General Services Administration; Defense; Transportation; Homeland Security; Housing and Urban Development; Education; and the Veterans Administration.  Each of these agencies has a federal preservation officer.

• Additionally, there are ex officio representatives of three national preservation organizations selected directly by the organization they represent:  the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers; the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers; and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The Obama Foundation’s “Importance of Place” summit

JPW readers may have seen some news references to the Obama Foundation’s third summit, an invitation-only event to be held in Chicago on October 28 and 29 with the theme “Places Reveal Our Purpose.” 

Media releases indicate that the event, to be held on the near South Side, will include young leaders from around the world and participants of programs run by the Obama Foundation. Officials say the summit will show how the Obama Presidential Center “connects to a growing global network of leaders.” 

JPW and others commend the Obama Foundation for the leadership training programs it has begun.  It is worth noting that these have flourished without needing a facility in Jackson Park.  Indeed, in keeping with the “global network” focus of Obama Foundation programming, these have taken place in a wide variety of places around the globe.

South Shore Nature Sanctuary Stewardship Program wins FOTP award

The South Shore Nature Sanctuary Community Stewardship Program, under the able leadership of Susannah Ribstein with co-steward Jerry Levy, was recently recognized by Friends of the Parks with one of its 2019 VIP (Volunteers in the Parks) Awards.    Congratulations to the Nature Sanctuary Stewardship Team!

Those not already familiar with the Nature Sanctuary may wish to explore the following links, among the many sources of information about this marvelous natural area.  Even better, make a visit!

http://chicagopatterns.com/south-shore-nature-sanctuary/

https://www.openlands.org/2018/06/28/have-you-discovered-the-south-shore-nature-sanctuary/

Unfortunately, plans for a merged/expanded PGA-level golf course would destroy the Nature Sanctuary as it currently exists.  Those plans would slice off the Sanctuary’s lakefront access and eliminate the popular council rings in order to install a green and fairway for the “money hole” at the far east end of the Nature Sanctuary.  Surrounded by golfing activity on three sides, the much-diminished prairie space would no longer be a “sanctuary”  for fellowship or solitude.  And, despite the assertions of the golf plan’s advocates, the idea of adding new natural plantings elsewhere on the golf course – in elongated space between fairways – does not approach a fair tradeoff. This threat to the Nature Sanctuary has generated massive community opposition to the golf course expansion plan (to learn more, see http://jacksonparkwatch.org/golf-course). 

POP appeal brief to be submitted by October 25

Regular Update readers will recall that an appeal to Judge Blakey’s June 12 dismissal of the Protect Our Parks challenge to the siting of the Obama President Center in Jackson Park was filed on August 7 .  The POP legal team, led by U Chicago law professor Richard Epstein, will file the brief outlining the appeal by next Friday, October 25.  We will provide more information when it is available.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

As always, we welcome your financial support.  You can contribute in three ways:

• You can contribute via checks made out to Jackson Park Watch sent to directly to Jackson Park Watch, P.O. Box 15302, Chicago 60615. 
• You can contribute via PayPal here.
• You can contribute via checks from donor-directed funds sent to our fiscal sponsor Friends of the Parks at FOTP, 17 N. State St., Suite 1450, Chicago 60602, ATTN Kyla Williams.  Such checks should be made out to FOTP with a note stating they are intended for Jackson Park Watch. 

Once again, we thank you.

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

Greetings, all!

Section 106 review process pushed back

In our September 7 Update we reported that a new consulting party meeting had been scheduled as a webinar session for Monday, September 23.  The meeting was to discuss comments on the draft AOE (Assessment of Effects) report. The schedule announced at that time indicated that, following the webinar session, the City and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) would prepare a final AOE report and make it available to consulting parties for an additional 30-day review period.   Consulting parties’ concerns and disagreements with the proposed final report would then be resolved via discussions with the FHWA or, if those discussions were unsuccessful, by review by  the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP).  Once all disagreements about the text of the AOE report were resolved, the review process would then move on to discussions of how to resolve adverse effects.  

On September 18, consulting parties received another message from Abby Monroe, the City’s overseer of the Section 106 review, saying that the September 23 meeting has been pushed back to October 23.  Veterans of the Section 106 review process suggest that the substantial requests for additional relevant information from the City as set out in the 8/22 letter from the ACHP have resulted in this delay.  As always, we will keep you posted.

What is the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation?

We remind Update readers that the ACHP was created in 1966 as part of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) to ensure that federal agencies would comply with the law’s provisions intended to preserve our nation’s historic and cultural heritage.

If conflicts over historic preservation have not drawn significant public attention in recent years, it is in part because the processes and protections established by the NHPA were in place.  The Section 106 review now underway, including the AOE report, is one such process. 

The National Register of Historic Places was also established by the NHPA.  There are over 350 places in Chicago included on the National Register today, including 93 on Chicago’s South Side.  These range from parks to churches to hotels to homes, commercial buildings, and in fact entire neighborhoods.  Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance are on the National Register, as are Washington Park and the South Shore Cultural Center. 

Inclusion on the National Register does not prevent change, but, when federal funding or actions are involved, does require careful consideration of proposed changes and examination of alternatives that will have fewer adverse impacts on the historic property.

MPAC sends letter concerning historic landmark status

Amid continuing discussions about the section of the draft AOE report that outlined the City’s desire to take the east end of the Midway Plaisance for replacement parkland, the Midway Plaisance Advisory Council voted at its September 11 meeting to submit a one-sentence statement to the City and federal agencies involved in the Section 106 review:  “Any changes that happen to the Midway Plaisance, we want to be sure that the Midway will not lose or come close to losing its listing on the National Register of Historic Places.”  The letter was sent to the FHWA, National Park Service, ACHP, and the City.

Advocacy for Affordable Housing Ordinance and Community Benefits Agreement continues

To develop support for the proposed Affordable Housing Ordinance (one major goal of the CBA initiative) now before City Council, the CBA Coalition recently took Alderman Harry Osterman,  chair of the Council’s Housing and Real Estate Committee, on a trolley tour of Woodlawn.  20^th Ward Alderman Jeanette Taylor stressed that displacement is a problem across the wards and the ordinance tied to the development of the Obama Presidential Center could be a model for addressing housing needs throughout the city.

Advocacy for the South Shore Nature Sanctuary

Even as Alderman Leslie Hairston stands by her assertion that the Nature Sanctuary is “dead,” local activist Anne Holcomb works to realize her vision of the area as the site for therapy and education. On Tuesday, September 17, she organized a field trip to the sanctuary for a group of homeless youth, bringing along a beekeeper and a naturalist to teach the group about the wildlife and plants found there.   That same evening Holcomb presented her plan to the Park District at its annual budget forum, noting that funds earmarked for the golf course expansion could be more productively directed to making South Shore a destination for nature programs. Superintendent Kelly made no response to the recommendation.

Millennium Park rule change highlights issue with non-public “parks”

News that a suit has been filed contesting restrictions on permitted activities in most parts of Millennium Park points to issues with “parks” not owned or operated by the Chicago Park District.  Despite its name, Millennium Park is not controlled or operated by the Chicago Park District.  Rules at Millennium Park are not decided by the Park District, nor can changes be appealed to the Park District Board.  Similarly, the Obama Presidential Center campus would not be owned or operated by the Chicago Park District. Instead, the OPC campus would be on City-owned land but controlled by the Obama Foundation, a private entity, which could enact restrictions virtually as it saw fit with no public accountability.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!

Thanks to all who have recently offered financial support.  As always, we welcome your contributions.  You can contribute in three ways:

• You can contribute via checks made out to Jackson Park Watch sent to directly to Jackson Park Watch, P.O. Box 15302, Chicago 60615. 
• You can contribute via PayPal here.
• You can contribute via checks from donor-directed funds sent to our fiscal sponsor Friends of the Parks at FOTP, 17 N. State St., Suite 1450, Chicago 60602, ATTN Kyla Williams.  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 Margaret Schmid
co-presidents, Jackson Park Watch

www.jacksonparkwatch.org
jacksonparkwatch@gmail.com

JACKSON PARK WATCH UPDATE – September 7, 2019

Greetings, all!

Assessment of Effects process moves ahead

The July 29 release of the draft Assessment of Effects (AOE)  prompted an outpouring of comments on the report continuing up to the August 30 deadline (see prior discussion in JPW’s Updates of August 8 and 16 at www.jacksonparkwatch.org, right-hand column ). Our own AOE comments and those of seven other organizations with whom we are in contact are posted on the JPW website.

Of particular significance was the comment by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) released on August 22 in a relatively unusual step.  It identified numerous shortcomings in the AOE and in the Section 106 process to date and indicated that additional data was needed – for example, an analysis of traffic diversions onto neighborhood roads, and an analysis of the visual impact of the 235’ Obama Museum Tower. The ACHP, an independent federal agency established as part of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, is the only entity with the legal responsibility to encourage Federal agencies to factor historic preservation objectives into Federal project requirements. It advises the President and Congress on national historic preservation policy. 

The next steps in the Section 106 review were announced on August 28 by the City’s liaison Abby Monroe in an email to consulting parties:

• On September 23, there will be a follow-up consulting parties meeting via a webinar.  At that time the City – in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA, the lead federal agency), the National Park Service and the Illinois Dept. of Transportation –  will present a summary of comments received on the draft AOE, a description of how they will address the comments in the final version of the AOE report, and an outline of the process moving forward. 
• Following the September 23 webinar session, the FHWA will finalize the AOE report and make it available to the consulting parties for another 30-day review period. (Exact schedule not yet determined.)
• If within that further 30-day review period, the FHWA receives written notifications from the Illinois State Historical Preservation Officer or from any consulting party disagreeing with the findings of the proposed final AOE report and providing reasons for those disagreements, the FHWA will either consult directly with the party to resolve the disagreement or refer the issue to the ACHP.
• Once all disagreements have been addressed, the FHWA will proceed to the next step in the process – resolving adverse effects via the required steps in priority order of avoidance, minimization, or mitigation.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation, one of the consulting parties to the Section 106 review, offered a pithy summary of  the Section 106 process for the OPC and of the importance of the process as a national policy.  

All told, it is clear that the Section 106 process is far from over and that the schedule the FHWA and City have previously outlined for the completion of the federal reviews overall is highly unlikely to be met. 

Is construction of the OPC really about to begin?

The Obama Foundation, eager to signal to its supporters and donors that plans for the OPC may be on track if not on schedule, announced last week that contractor bidding for work on the OPC will begin this fall.  The Lakeside Alliance formed to oversee the construction of the OPC unveiled the schedule at the 5^th Ward meeting in August.  In keeping with the Obama Foundation’s continuing insistence that all is well and its plan is inevitable, it optimistically projected that if construction began in the spring, the project would be completed in 2023.  It is important to note, however, that while bidding may begin – and even be completed – no construction can start until the federal reviews are complete.  Further, if OPC plans are altered as a result of the federal reviews, which may be the case, construction bids might need to be redone.

A similar effort to project confidence was the announcement that a long-awaited renovation of the Metra station at 59^th Street/60^th Street would begin in 2020. A $2.5 million payment from the University of Chicago finally prodded Metra to act.   

Why “CBA now!”?

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago released this week a study that documents the recent increases in rents and housing values in the 2-mile-wide area around the proposed OPC and the extent to which displacement of lower-income residents is already underway.  The full report is available as an attachment to the Sun-Times summary article.  The findings support the need for passage of the Affordable Housing Ordinance now before the City Council that was introduced in August by Aldermen Jeanette Taylor and Leslie Hairston.  Commenting on the report, Taylor (20^th Ward), a long-time champion of the CBA, has stressed the the urgent need for action and is pushing for adoption of the ordinance in October.

Protect Our Parks lawsuit appeal still moving forward

Update readers will remember that the Protect Our Parks legal team last month asked Federal Judge John R. Blakey to re-open the original case so that the new  information in the Section 106 Assessment of Effects report could be considered.  The City recently filed a response to the POP request, and the parties are now awaiting the judge’s decision on the issue.  POP’s appeal of Judge Blakey’s ruling in the original case is still in process.

More than just golf

One of the most controversial aspects of the proposed merger of the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses has been its plan to eliminate the Nature Sanctuary that hugs part of the lakefront at the South Shore Cultural Center.  In a recent letter to the Hyde Park Herald, Anne Holcomb, head of the neighborhood group E.T.H.O.S., offered a vision for what the Nature Sanctuary could be – a vision of parks with spaces for all.

City’s financial crisis requires hard decisions

Mayor Lightfoot’s announcement of a $838 million budget hole has rightly caught the attention of many people.  Some would argue that every City expenditure now should be carefully vetted to be sure it is essential. JPW suggests that proposed expenditures to close Cornell Drive and make otherwise unnecessary related expenditures to alter other area roads merit closer scrutiny, as do the extensive tax-payer funded changes required to merge the South Shore and Jackson Park golf courses.  We observe that the OPC could be sited in Jackson Park even if Cornell Drive were to be kept open, albeit with improvements to Cornell to slow traffic and improve pedestrian access.  We also note that the golf courses could and should be improved at far less expense to the public. 

Mayor Lightfoot has launched a survey asking people how they would prioritize City expenditures.  It also includes a chance to make open-ended comments on City spending. We recommend that you complete the survey.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT!

Thanks to all who have recently made donations!  As always, we welcome your contributions.  You can contribute in three ways:

• You can contribute via checks made out to Jackson Park Watch sent to directly to Jackson Park Watch, P.O. Box 15302, Chicago 60615. 
• You can contribute via PayPal here.
• You can contribute via checks from donor-directed funds sent to our fiscal sponsor Friends of the Parks at FOTP, 17 N. State St., Suite 1450, Chicago 60602, ATTN Kyla Williams.  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 Margaret Schmid
Co-presidents, Jackson Park Watch
www.jacksonparkwatch.org
jacksonparkwatch@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/jacksonparkwatch

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Greetings, all!

There is action on many fronts!  See below for news on:

• The Assessment of Effects (AOE) report
  • Be sure to look at what you can do;
• The golf course proposal and the Nature Sanctuary;
• The Protect Our Parks legal appeal.

More on the Assessment of Effects (AOE) report

We remind readers that the stated purpose of the entire federally mandated Section 106 historic review process is preservation of historic places and identification of threats to them.  This well-established process, dating back to the 1960s when the construction of the federal highway system endangered multiple historic places, includes clear review criterion and procedural requirements.

Key contents of  the AOE: 

As was widely noted when it was first released, the draft AOE report  correctly concludes that the plans to construct the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park along with the related road changes will have clear, significant adverse effects on the historic park. 

However, the AOE incorrectly argues that there will be no adverse effects on historic properties or historic districts in the near neighborhoods.  The AOE comes to this conclusion using two erroneous and incomplete sets of data. 

• It relies on the traffic study CDOT used in developing its plans to accommodate the OPC design by closing Cornell Drive between 59^th and 63^rd streets, closing the eastbound Midway Plaisance, and making other massive road changes.  Among other short-comings, that study failed to do a thorough analysis of where traffic would be diverted as a result – for example, onto 67^th street or other side streets through Hyde Park and South Shore.  (See JPW’s independent  traffic study for discussion of those issues.)
• It fails completely to include an above-ground-level analysis of the visual impact of the Obama museum tower on the area, arguing that, despite the ready availability of inexpensive technology to do such a review, the City does not have the relevant technology.

In addition, the section of the AOE report on recreation and UPARR replacement parkland is misleading and incomplete.  In proposing to take over the 5.2 acres at the east end of the Midway Plaisance for replacement parkland, replete with a fenced in playground, the City is for the first time apparently conceding that more than just one acre of replacement parkland is required to balance the loss of  the 19.3 acres of public park that would be handed over to the OPC.  However, this proposed use of the Midway space would do nothing to provide parkland in the park-poor Woodlawn or South Shore.  It is opposed by the Midway Park Advisory Council.  The Midway is itself on the National Register of Historic Places; “replacing” historic parkland with historic parkland makes little sense.  The National Park Service, whose approval is required, has not signed off on either the amount of replacement parkland that will be needed or the proposed site.

Problems compounded by August 5 meetings

The problems with process throughout the development of the plans for the OPC and road changes are well known – staged and manipulated public meetings being central to them.  The August 5 meetings held to review the AOE report, required by the federal process, unfortunately provided a rerun of the severe shortcomings in how the City managed the process under former Mayor Emanuel.  As reported in the Sun-Times and Crain’s, JPW joined with other concerned organizations to point out to Mayor Lightfoot the contrast between the continued use of such ham-handed tactics and her administration’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and community input, urging her to provide leadership in forging a resolution that will facilitate both the construction of the OPC on the South Side and the preservation of historic Jackson Park. 

What you can do

The next federally mandated steps in the Section 106 process require consideration of ways to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the adverse effects of the OPC and road plans on Jackson Park.  What do you think should be done and why?  The federal review process requires accepting and considering public comments on these issues.  Your comments would become part of the record in the case, which is far from over.

Attempting micro-definitions of “avoidance” or “minimization” as opposed to “mitigation” is not useful here.  But some examples might help:  moving the OPC to another location outside of Jackson Park a very clear example of “avoidance.”  Keeping Cornell open (albeit with fewer lanes, traffic calming, and pedestrian enhancements), keeping the eastbound segment of Midway Plaisance open, dramatically “right-sizing” the Obama tower, and saving the maximum number of healthy mature trees would constitute  examples of “minimization.”   

The draft AOE report includes a section arguing implausibly that the OPC design itself already constitutes “minimization,” and that thus only “mitigation” is appropriate now. Comments by City and highway agency representatives at the August 5 meetings showed that they think appropriate mitigation would be such things as taking photos, counting trees to be cut, and creating an archival record of the Park as it looks today before the current site is in effect destroyed. 

JPW and many others are deeply concerned about this approach, which, if executed, would not only spell the end of a significant portion of historic Jackson Park and presumably the end to its listing on the National Register, but would set a precedent that would threaten the integrity and functioning of the Section 106 process itself. 

We urge you to send your suggestions about what can and should be done to address the causes of the adverse effects documented in the AOE report   You can also comment on specific findings of the draft report if you see gaps or mistakes that should be corrected for the final version.  In addition to the text of the report, linked above, the appendices and the presentation slides from August 5 are available on the City’s website.

Send your comments by August 30 to the designated recipient: Abby Monroe at the City’s Department of Planning and Development,  Abby.Monroe@cityofchicago.org, and to the other lead personnel:  Matt Fuller for FHWA at matt.fuller@dot.gov; Lee Tersiz for the NPS at lee_terzis@nps.gov;  Nate Roseberry for CDOT at nathan.roseberry@cityofchicago.org; Heather Gleason for the Park District at heather.gleason@chicagoparkdistrict.com; and Brad Koldehoff for IDOT at brad.koldehoff@illinois.gov.                                 

Please also share your comments with key City decision-makers: 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot lori.lightfoot@cityofchicago.org       

Chief of Staff Maurice Classen maurice.classen@cityofchicago.org

Deputy Mayor for Economic and Neighborhood Development Samir Mayekar    Samir.Mayekar@cityofchicago.org           

Chief Engagement Officer Juan Carlos Linares Juan.Linares@cityofchicago.org

Chief Equity Officer Candace Moore candace.moore@cityofchicago.org                                   

Golf course in the news – again

News reports in June indicated that proponents of the Tiger Woods-designed golf course expansion/merger in Jackson Park and South Shore planned  to use Woods’ presence in the area this week for the  BMW Championship at Medinah Country Club to help market the plan.  Among those proponents is Alderman Leslie Hairston. Described as gung-ho for the golf course project, Hairston told the Sun-Times she would like to take Mayor Lightfoot, a skeptic of the project, on a tour of the nature sanctuary at South Shore Cultural Center “because it’s actually all dead. And it’s been dead for some years.” 

JPW and other advocates for the preservation of the nature sanctuary and other recreational and natural features that would be obliterated by the expanded golf course found this quite strange.  A gorgeous photo of the sanctuary in full bloom, taken the morning of August 14 and totally disproving the Alderman’s description, was quickly posted on Twitter,  shared by JPW with the Board of Commissioners of the Park District at its monthly meeting, and widely circulated in the Sun-Times and BlockClubChicago.  We sincerely hope Alderman Hairston will indeed soon take the Mayor on a tour at South Shore so that they both can enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the space.

Protect Our Parks appeal and the AOE

The Protect Our Parks legal team, arguing that the information in the AOE report has a material impact on the POP lawsuit, has asked Federal Judge John R. Blakey to re-open the case so that the information in the AOE can be considered.  The City’s response to that request, just filed on  Thursday, ignores the substance of the AOE findings and argues that the report is not relevant. A hearing on these arguments has not yet been scheduled.  We will keep you posted.

In the meantime, here is a recent comment by POP attorney Richard Epstein on the broader issues being argued in the POP suit. 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!

Thanks as always to all who have recently offered financial support, support that enables us to retain expert legal counsel.  You can contribute in three ways:

• You can contribute via checks made out to Jackson Park Watch sent to directly to Jackson Park Watch, P.O. Box 15302, Chicago 60615. 
• You can contribute via PayPal here.
• You can contribute via checks from donor-directed funds sent to our fiscal sponsor Friends of the Parks at FOTP, 17 N. State St., Suite 1450, Chicago 60602, ATTN Kyla Williams.  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 Margaret Schmid
Co-presidents, Jackson Park Watch
www.jacksonparkwatch.org
jacksonparkwatch@gmail.com

Greetings, all!

AOE meetings a huge disappointment

Both the consulting party and public meetings last Monday (8/5),  convened to discuss the recently released Assessment of Effects (AOE) report, were huge disappointments.  (See JPW Updates for July 29 and August 1 for background information on the AOE.) Just that morning the Tribune had published a letter from JPW, underlining the gravity of the accounting of the adverse impact on Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance of the proposed OPC and related road changes, and expressing hope for an effective review.   Despite these sessions occurring under a new administration, there were no traces of the transparency, accountability, or openness to community input that we have come to expect of Mayor Lightfoot’s leadership. Thoughtful questions received rote responses or incomplete answers.  Representatives from FHWA, IDOT, and CDOT essentially disregarded the AOE finding of significant adverse effects, and asserted instead that such adverse findings are routine, that the projects can still move forward, and that there will be instead alleged “improvements” to the Park.  

Reports by Block Club Chicago and WBEZ captured the concerns and disappointment felt by many attendees. The City has posted a vimeo of the consulting parties meeting  along with its presentation slides and other documents on its inaptly named “Jackson Park Improvements” website.

If you were there…

If you were at the meeting, you will certainly have your own assessment of the event.  We urge you to write to Mayor Lori Lightfoot at lori.lightfoot@cityofchicago.org to share your opinion (include a cc to her Chief of Staff Maurice Classen at maurice.classen@cityofchicago.org and also a cc to her Director of Community Engagement Juan Carlos Linares at juan.linares@cityofchicago.org).  We also hope that you will submit a separate, more analytical comment on the AOE report itself as part of the Section 106 review process by the August 30 deadline.  We will provide more information on potential points to make and where to submit your comments in the next Update.

If you were not there…

If you have enough information about the meeting to have opinions to share, we urge you to write Mayor Lori Lightfoot at lori.lightfoot@cityofchicago.org to share your opinion (include a cc to her Chief of Staff Maurice Classen at maurice.classen@cityofchicago.org and also a cc to her Director of Community Engagement Juan Carlos Linares at juan.linares@cityofchicago.org).  We think it is urgently important that Mayor Lightfoot hear from the many members of the community who are hoping that she will bring her legendary problem-solving skills to bear on crafting a broadly acceptable compromise to this conflict.  Sadly, there was no evidence of that approach at Monday’s meetings.  We urge you as well to consider submitting comments on the AOE report itself.

AOE Prompts New Filing by Protect Our Parks

The AOE report is having ripple effects beyond the Section 106 review process.   Protect Our Parks, which is now at the appeal stage of its lawsuit to block the siting of the OPC in Jackson Park, has filed a new motion seeking to vacate (i.e.,  cancel) the ruling of June 11 that dismissed POP’s suit against the City and Park District. Noting the unequivocal conclusion in the AOE report that the OPC will have an adverse impact on Jackson Park, POP asserts that the report contains information of direct relevance to the facts of its suit, in particular to the City’s claim to be “improving” Jackson Park, that should be considered in adjudicating the case.  The new motion will be considered next week, as reported in the Herald.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!

Thanks to all who have recently offered financial support.  As always, we welcome your contributions.  You can contribute in three ways:

• You can contribute via checks made out to Jackson Park Watch sent to directly to Jackson Park Watch, P.O. Box 15302, Chicago 60615. 
• You can contribute via PayPal here.
• You can contribute via checks from donor-directed funds sent to our fiscal sponsor Friends of the Parks at FOTP, 17 N. State St., Suite 1450, Chicago 60602.  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 Margaret Schmid,
co-presidents, Jackson Park Watch
www.jacksonparkwatch.org
jacksonparkwatch@gmail.c
www.facebook.com/jacksonparkwatch