Grant Park only site being sought for Children's Museum
By Marie Balice Ward and William S. Bike
Despite strong opposition from 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly, some neighbors, and proponents of Chicago's 1836 law prohibiting buildings in Grant Park, the Chicago Children’s Museum (CCM), currently at Navy Pier, is very close to finalizing plans for a larger facility to house expanded programs and offerings for children at the Daley Bicentennial Plaza, 337 E. Randolph St., in Grant Park.
Natalie Kreiger, CCM’s public relations manager, said Daley Bicentennial Plaza is the only site being considered. CCM is working closely with the City and will file plans for the new museum and field house with the Chicago Department of Planning and Development in the near future.
CCM held at least nine community group presentations, and “we anticipate that we will have a new Chicago Children’s Museum by 2010,” Kreiger said.
CCM chose the location in December 2006, but after opposition by nearby residents it considered another site at Monroe St. and Columbus Dr. A coalition of downtown organizations and the Grant Park Advisory Council and Grant Park Conservancy (GPAC/GPC) strongly opposed the Monroe St.-Columbus Dr. location, however, because that intersection already has too many structures and locating another building there would encroach on Grant Park.
Putting CCM at Daley Bicentennial Plaza also encroaches on Grant Park, yet when recently elected Alderman Reilly opposed that location, the debate turned nasty. Mayor Richard M. Daley lashed out at Reilly and his constituents objecting to the site and implied their views are based on race.
"You mean you don't want children from the city in Grant Park?" Daley said in a September press conference. "Why? Are they Black? Are they White? Are they Hispanic? Are they poor? You don't want children?"
Museum Board Chair Jean Pritzker Pucker of the rich and politically active Pritzker family, founder of Hyatt Hotels, strongly supports the Daley Bicentennial Plaza site. Opponents charge the Pritzkers' political power has influenced Daley's vehement backing of the site.
Bob O’Neill, president of GPAC/GPC, said that, based on comments he received, about half the local residents favor the Daley Bicentennial Plaza site and half oppose it, with local organizations and institutions about 60% in favor and 40% opposed. Among the opposing organizations are Friends of Downtown and the New Eastside Association of Residents. GPAC/GPC has approved the site.
O’Neill noted that plans for Millennium Park met opposition when first introduced. Yet today, the park is very popular, he said.
O’Neill said GPAC/GPC would be glad to hold additional community meetings if necessary or requested by area residents and institutions. In the meantime, he stressed that “situating the Chicago Children’s Museum at Daley Bicentennial Plaza…will mean that tax dollars will now be used for a badly needed new field house. This field house would be used by individuals, families, visitors and those who work along the entire span of Grant Park.
“The final design for the Chicago Children’s Museum facility includes trees on the roof as well as other environmental friendly features, and has been considerably altered to address and accommodate the concerns voiced by the majority of local residents,” he went on.
O’Neill also said adding another cultural and educational venue for children would greatly enhance Grant Park as a destination for local, regional, national, and international visitors. He believes Chicago must continue to evolve culturally to compete globally.
“Grant Park, ‘Chicago’s front yard,’ provides considerable funding for other parks throughout the City through Lollapalooza, Millennium Park, and other cultural, entertainment, and interactive venues,” he said. Funds from Grant Park enable beautification of neighborhood parks and help expedite needed repairs, he added.
CCM would increase the park’s international audience, O’Neill believes. Also, the section of Grant Park from Randolph St. to Monroe St. and from the west edge of the Cancer Survival Garden to Columbus Dr., the new Art Institute Building, and Millennium Park would create an uninterrupted series of cultural, educational, and entertainment experiences.
In opposition, Reilly stated "there is only one Grant Park, and it should remain forever open, clear, and free for future generations….The Chicago Children's Museum is not the first private tourist attraction to try to build on Grant Park. Over the past 150 years, dozens of private buildings have been proposed for Grant Park. If exceptions had been allowed for those private developments, there would be no open space left on Grant Park today, and we wouldn't even be having this debate.
"Allowing the Children's Museum to build on Grant Park would set a dangerous precedent and open the floodgates for other private developers to lobby for their own locations on Grant Park," Reilly continued.
"I believe it is our generation's responsibility to protect Grant Park for the benefit of future generations, for all Chicagoans from every corner of the city. I will not bow to political pressure in this effort, because I refuse to ignore Grant Park's 171 years of history as a specially protected open space," Reilly concluded.
For more information, contact GPAC/GPC at (312) 829-8015, Reilly at (312) 642-4242, Friends of Downtown at (312) 548-9454, or the New Eastside Association of Residents at richardward@neweastside.org.
