Children's Museum still looking for a home
By Marie
Balice Ward
Controversy continues to envelop the Chicago Children’s Museum’s relocation, as two proposed sites have met with opposition.
In June, museum President Peter England announced at a Grant Park Advisory Council/Grant Park Conservancy (GPAC/GPC) meeting that Daley Bicentennial Plaza’s field house area east of Michigan Avenue on Randolph Street was deemed the best new location for the museum.
In moving there, the museum would have rebuilt the field house, which is in dire need of renovation, at its own expense and incorporated it into the new site. Of the location’s 325 acres, 20,000 square feet would have remained Chicago Park District property; the remainder would have held a 95,000 square foot museum and 5,000 square feet to be shared with the field house and an ice rink. Also, the museum would have housed field house and ice rink services and operations.
Alderman Burt Natarus reportedly received complaints about the plan, as did Chicago Park District spokesperson Jessica Maxey Faulkner.
Then, at an October press conference, England unexpectedly announced the museum would relocate to the southeast corner of Monroe Street and Columbus Drive in Grant Park instead. He noted it would be renamed the Chicago Children’s Museum at Allstate Place to reflect a reported $15 million contribution from Allstate Insurance.
Museum leadership had high hopes for the second site and still would like to build there, but GPAC/GPA and several other business and civic organizations have deemed it unsuitable for a variety of reasons.
At a mid-October community meeting, the majority of attendees spoke against the Monroe Street location. Bob O’Neill, GPAC/GPC president, said he had received an overwhelming number of e-mails opposing the idea, mainly because it would “hard-scape” Grant Park, meaning the museum would be a non-green area within the park.
'Dangerous precedent'
“It would set a dangerous precedent,” O’Neill said. “Subsequently, it would be difficult to deny other institutions from building within the Grant Park property, and there would be an unacceptable loss of green space at this particular area.”
Several community members, including Louis D’Angelo, said at the October meeting they believed political pressure and “political expediency” brought the Monroe Street choice under consideration. He added he has reviewed the Grant Park Framework Plan and believes erecting a building within the park is not allowed.
Other groups, including Friends of Downtown, Friends of the Parks, Chicago Loop Alliance (formerly Greater State Street Council), Open Lands Projects, and the Metropolitan Planning Council, joined GPAC/GPA in opposing the Grant Park location.
“These groups unanimously agree that the new proposed location for the Chicago Children’s Museum is illegal, is contrary to the Montgomery Ward’s court decisions (Oct. 16, 1890) regarding green space, violates the Lakefront Protection Ordinance, and would set a bad precedent for building permanent structures within Grant Park grounds,” stated O’Neill.
“We are scheduling meetings with the Mayor, with Alderman Burt Natarus, with the Chicago Park District, and, of course, with the Chicago Children’s Museum to reach an agreement as to the location of the expanded museum,” O’Neill explained. “We will continue working toward maintaining communication with all parties involved.
“Grant Park Advisory Council and Grant Park Conservancy believe the location at the current Daley Bicentennial Plaza would be ideal for the Chicago Children’s Museum, but not all of the other groups are in agreement about where the museum should be located. However, everyone firmly believes that the Monroe Street at Columbus Drive site is unsuitable.” O’Neill plans to hold additional community meetings on the subject.
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