Don's speech tonight:
Statement Delivered by Donald Gordon, Executive Director RPC
To Rob Rejman, Director of Lakefront Development, Chicago Park District
Community Meeting, Loyola Park - Thursday, October 20th, 2005 at 6:30pm
Last year the Rogers Park Conservancy fought long and hard in partnership with our Evanston neighbors to stop construction of a marina off the shoreline of Calvary Cemetery. Today, we find ourselves fighting yet another marina, this time on the southern border of our community. We are invigorated by the fact that our grassroots efforts resulted in stopping one marina and we are emboldened with the knowledge gained from that battle to fight this current proposal for a marina just south of Loyola University. However, we are not simply about opposition but rather, more importantly, about finding better solutions. Thanks to our effort at Calvary and a receding waterline, a beautiful and tranquil beach is now forming at that site and a coalition has been formed to explore more creative, environmentally sound ideas for that location. We like to think that Mother Nature is thanking all of us for saving our lakefront from the eyesore of a marina, by beginning to restore the once historic Calvary Beach to it's grandeur of the 1920's. We like to think that Mother Nature is once again asking for our stewardship.
If you haven't had the occasion to see this tranquil and bucolic beach in the midst of an urban setting, please take an opportunity to do so. Walk down to the beach through a path on the north end of that shoreline just before you get to the fence and pier at South Boulevard Beach. Do it on a clear day at sunrise and immerse yourself in the beauty of the striking dawn colors and sparkling waters reflecting the sunshine like diamonds. Listen to the waves, the gulls and if you do it soon, the migrating geese that will fly overhead. Breathe in the air of the thousands of square miles of Lake Michigan wilderness that lays in front of you - blue and green reflections of a clear sky off its sandy bottom and the whitecaps of waves rolling in on windy days.
Now, imagine that shoreline extending not just the 1/2 mile to the Rogers Park border, but rather 3 miles to Osterman Beach at Hollywood Avenue in our neighboring community of Edgewater. Imagine a sandy shoreline easily accessible to thousands of residents in both of our communities, providing an unparalleled stretch of urban beaches found only in the most magnificent coastlines of the world. We have imagined such a lakefront, unimpeded by an extended Lake Shore Drive, landfills, islands, peninsulas and of course - marinas. We have imagined beaches as far as the eye can see, looking north from the pier at Osterman Beach. We have imagined what Daniel Burnham would say: "What a grand idea".
You see, Burnham said so much more than just "Make no small plans...". In fact, one of the first things he said in the Plan of Chicago is in Chapter one on the bottom of page two: "Indeed, the aim has been to anticipate the needs of the future as well as to provide for the necessities of the present: in short, to direct the development of the city towards an end that must seem ideal, but is practical. Therefore it is quite possible that when particular portions of the plan shall be taken up for execution, wider knowledge, longer experience, or a change in local conditions may suggest a better solution..." Burnham felt it important enough to make this statement at the very beginning of his discourse on urban planning. He had the foresight to see that it would take lifetimes to implement his concepts and that what seemed a good idea in 1909 might not hold up 100 years later. He was so right.
The citizens of Rogers Park have wider knowledge, our generation has had longer experience and the local conditions of our time dictate a better solution than the islands, landfills and harbors he once envisioned. We ask that you join with us in preserving this incredibly stunning shoreline and work with our communities to develop a plan that's not just devoid of roadways, landfills and artificial harbors, but more importantly is filled with imaginative ideas for enhancing and creating a stretch of urban beaches unparalleled in any coastal city of world.
We submit to the Chicago Park District our Policy Statement, voicing our opposition to the proposed Loyola Marina and proposing an alternative solution. We ask that you seriously consider our recommendation and that you engage the Chicago Park District in sponsoring a series of community planning sessions with the Rogers Park Conservancy next February, aimed toward developing a truly comprehensive plan - The Plan of Rogers Park- based on the visionary ideas captured in our Community Needs Assessment - a document summarizing an 18 month effort of community outreach to solicit citizen ideas for expanding and preserving our parks and beaches. You can access that sixty plus page document on our web site.
In closing I leave you with an excerpt from the "Grand Canyon" speech of the Great Conservationist, Theodore Roosevelt: "Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children, and for all who come after you."
2 comments:
The room looks nearly empty by the time Don spoke to Mr. Smileyface. Check out Fagus in the background, not even listening.
Last night was a rare evening combining eloquence and action by so many great neighbors in our community. It was a big event indeed. The park district set up 300 chairs in advance - all were filled - and nearly 100 other folks stood in the back and sides of the gynasuim. Most residents were wearing the red "No Loyola Marina" stickers made by the Rogers Park Conservancy.
Our Conservancy team prepared a dozen different perspectives about the marina issue ranging from statements on park district spending priorities in our community and enviromental impact to the unsound bond financing structure and the wild traffic mess that would have been created by the proposed plan.
Here's the perspective I shared at the meeting.
Neighbors, I’m Michael Harrington. My partner and I are raising our two grade school-age kids in our home on Ashland. I speak today as a father, a homeowner, a neighbor, and as Chairman of the Rogers Park Conservancy Board of Directors.
We love and enjoy many things in Rogers Park. But, we know that there is also a lot to be depressed about. Few of us have our heads in the sand about street crime & youth gangs. Last year our community lived through a tragic series of violent youth attacks on adults – it was called GOONING. This summer we saw several shootings involving youth and older gang members in our North of Howard area. At least three young people recruited into gangs are now dead.
So I understand it when some are EAGER to see any signal which seems to spell progress. A new marina may look like progress to some.
However, what if we spent these millions of city dollars, loans, and bonding authority on more pressing PRIORITIES? What about wisely making plans to:
1. To upgrade the quality of our current parks.
2. To buy property and build some new parks.
3. To plant more trees, grass, and do landscaping.
4. To fix the broken water fountains and decaying playground equipment, and build the Gale Park Community Center.
5. AND best of all:
a. TO HIRE STAFF TO DELIVER NEW AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS
b. AND ALSO OFFER PROGRAMS LATE INTO THE EVENING AND ON THE WEEKENDS FOR KIDS, FAMILIES, AND NEIGHBORS OF ALL AGES.
Many of us see the Park District as an important resource in Rogers Park which should help enrich the lives of our children. We see a direct link between a solid park system with solid programs for youth and families AND the real potential of these assets to help young people stay on the right path.
Last year our organization completed a year-long research project which studied community needs, wishes, and hopes for park improvement and lakefront preservation. Neighbors had over 800 specific goals and ideas for our parks, beaches, and lakefront. The full report is online at urbsinhorto.org.
To name just a few general areas, the ideas targeted goals:
1. To preserve Chicago’s valuable beach and lakefront assets,
2. To build needed parks and expand green acreage throughout Rogers Park
3. To enhance park and lakefront programs and ensure access
4. To improve cleanliness and tackle public safety problems
5. And, even to address the need for a dog park
I know that some may think, "The Park District isn't going to make plans or spend money on all that meat-and-potatoes stuff! We have to take the Loyola Marina or we’ll be left with nothing new up here. Why stand in the way of progress?"
To that, I say, Rogers Park is our home. If we can create a Millennium park downtown, surely we can plan together and be creative in our neighborhoods - - and in particular right here at home in Rogers Park. I look at the Loyola Marina proposal for boaters who mostly don’t live here from the same perspective as home improvement and progress on my home.
Yes, I could build a room addition for out-of-town guests who come to stay for the weekend.
Yes, I could build a fancy new guest room!
Imagine - colorful art on the walls - hanging next to a new flat-screen, high definition, color TV.
Martha Stewart window treatments and the best Sealy Posturepedic Mattress that money can buy.
And one of those tiny refrigerators with bottles of refreshments. Heck, just like a hotel suite at the Ritz, visitors to my home would really feel like a king.
But then, I have to think about THE REAL PRIORITIES, the problems that won’t go away - problems that visitors don’t have to deal with, but things that we see everyday. I have to look at my family’s bank balance and make choices on priorities. I have to think about the old leaking roof on my house. I have to think about the cranky furnace that heats my house. I have to deal with the lumpy, old mattresses and decaying wallpaper in my kids’ bedrooms . . . and a broken window or two.
I think you get my point. What really needs attention here? What's most important?
No, like a fancy guest room, the Loyola Marina is a new addition that we neither want nor need. Instead, let’s direct our city’s financial resources and creative energies towards getting the basic needs met. It’s called bread and butter - and TAKING CARE OF HOME FIRST. Thank you.
Peace, Michael J. Harrington, Chair
Rogers Park Conservancy
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