New park coming to West Loop

The West Loop will get some much-needed green space, now that the City has allocated $5.45 million in tax increment financing for a new park to be designed by Site Design Group Ltd.

The West Loop Community Organization (WLCO) worked with local aldermen and the Chicago Park District for the last seven years to bring the park to the neighborhood.

The park, termed #542 for now, is bordered by Adams, Sangamon, Peoria, and Monroe Sts. It will feature a fenced-in dog area, interactive fountain, children’s playground, large multi-use seating area, and elevated mounds for climbing. The playground will be Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, including state-of-the-art rubber surfacing conducive to wheelchairs, said Chicago Park District spokesperson Michele Jones.

“This park is a big deal,” Jones said. “As communities grow, it’s a challenge to develop parks when there is limited space. Any new park development doesn’t happen overnight, and we’re always in communication with the community to keep them abreast of the process.”

Construction will begin this fall, with completion tentatively set for early 2009, Jones said. Before construction, workers must demolish a few buildings on the property, including the former University of Illinois at Chicago Eye and Ear Infirmary building, although they will save the infirmary’s terra cotta for reuse in the new park’s seating area.

Martha Goldstein, WLCO executive director, said the site is intended as a “tranquil park” rather than an active one She also expressed pleasure with the amount of community input that went into choosing the park’s design and its purpose as a peaceful space.

--Sarah Severson

No settlement yet in H&M case

After more than seven months, Tri-Taylor resident Frannie Richards and the H&M department store still have not reached a settlement in Richards’s complaint against the store. Richards, a Filipino American, alleged an H&M employee racially and sexually discriminated against her as she shopped at the Michigan Ave. store last September.

Richards and Asian American Institute Legal Director Myron Quon, who filed a discrimination complaint with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations on Richards’s behalf, met with Commission Investigator Peter Oakley and H&M’s general counsel, human resources director, and midwest regional manager.

The H&M representatives said they conducted an investigation but could not substantiate the allegations. They have assured Richards and Quon the company has “increased the amount and intensity of their diversity training,” Quon reported. Richards and Quon will not drop the matter, however, until the employee receives a reprimand or H&M fires him.

Richards said the employee called her a “mail-order bride” and made fun of her ability to understand English.

The commission still is investigating the allegations.

--Miriam Y. Cintron

 

South Loop corner goes green again

More trees will be coming to the South and West Loop, if Alderman Bob Fioretti (2nd) has his way.

            Workers already have planted two trees at 18th St. and Michigan Ave. to replace three trees removed from that spot in October because their roots had endangered a building foundation and sewer pipe, Fioretti said.

            “I am happy they planted the two, but I was upset they cut down the old ones without telling anyone they would,” said Alejandro Clazier, a neighborhood resident. Other residents had objected to the tree removal as well. Clazier added the situation could have been handled better by posting a sign explaining why the trees had to go.

            Residents likely will see more plantings in the future, as “the alderman is a huge tree advocate,” Fioretti’s chief of staff, Chris Karabi, said. “In driving around, if he sees a tree pit, he says, ‘make note of it’.”

           

-- Susan S. Stevens