Development Update: June 2009

Printers Row Park Sketch

Last month we announced the beginning of work on the long-awaited Printers Row Park (design plan shown to the right), only to have the start date delayed once again. But this time the delay is for what might be considered a good reason - a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the neighbors to enjoy.

So come one, come all: Alderman Fioretti and the Chicago Park District invite you to attend the Printers Row Park groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, June 6 at 10 a.m. at 650 S. Dearborn St. If you have any questions, you can contact Maritza Garcia at the 2nd Ward office at 312-263-9273.

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Ald. Fioretti left a phone message for SLN indicating that the neighborhood may be able to look forward to a Polk Street streetscaping project. The message said that there might be money available for this project working its way through the legislative process.

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Terraced land in front of and below the Field Museum is being eyed for a memorial to Daniel Burnham, the urban planner who laid out the lakefront, Grant Park and downtown. The memorial is part of the centennial celebration of Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago. Sites discussed by the Burnham Memorial Competition Committee included President's Court in Grant Park, the north side of Grant Park and a median strip in the middle of Congress Parkway.

The committee settled on the area in front of the Field Museum because of the museum's connection to Burnham, its location at the gateway to Burnham Park to the south and the view it offers of the architect's accomplishments, according to Richard Wilson, an urban planner at Skidmore Owings & Merrill who is involved in the memorial effort. For more info, read the article at Chicago Journal's website.

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Solidarity Drive underpass, which dips beneath the roadway at a congested point on the lakefront path is now open to bikers, runners and pedestrians. The intersection of Solidarity Drive, the east-west street that terminates at the Adler Planetarium, and the lakefront trail resulted in a congested convergence of transportation uses. During peak summer months, as many as 5,000 bikers and 4,500 pedestrians cross the strip daily, according to the city Department of Transportation. A federal grant of $13.4 million paid for much of the projected, estimated to cost $16.8 million.

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Night owls who like checking their PO boxes in the wee hours might be disappointed to learn that the United States Postal Service's Cardiss Collins facility, 433 W. Harrision, will end its 24-hour operation June 6. The South Loop postal branch is the last in the country to offer a staffed counter all hours of the day and night. The new hours at Cardiss Collins will be 7:30 a.m. until midnight seven days a week. For the full story, read the article at Chicago Journal's website.

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Got a question about development in the South Loop? Submit your inquiry and Dennis McClendon will investigate and report his findings in the next newsletter. Click here to Ask Dennis.