Tell the Park District and Alderman Daley that "No Means No!"
Superintendent Tim Mitchell said to us at the June Park District board meeting “You know, we intend to complete that field!”
We say: ‘NO MEANS NO!”
CALL THESE OFFICIALS AND TELL THEM TO RESTORE LINCOLN PARK NOW!
Park District General Superintendent Tim Mitchell
312-742-4786
Alderman Vi Daley (43rd)
email: vdaley@cityofChicago.org
City Hall phone: 312-744-3071
The background…
Notwithstanding its defeat in court, The Chicago Park District has announced its intention of completing the illegal structure, and also served notice that it (the taxpayers) will pay the Latin School up to $2 million dollars, along with its legal fees for attempting to defend its illegal actions.
Residents could not disapprove more strongly. They have, in fact been rejecting the Park District/Latin deal for over six years, but each time the project is rejected by the public, it somehow re-emerges like the many-headed mythical Hydra. For years this has been among the most popular and scenic areas of South Lincoln Park, serving the community in a myriad of uses by citizens of all ages. “You might as well put a soccer field smack in the middle of Daley Plaza” said Tom Tresser, president of POP. “There is space there, too. It just so happens that a few hundred thousand people use it for other things. Same thing in South Field. It is the wrong structure in the wrong place” Its proximity to the Latin School would appear to be the only reason that location was chosen, and the courts have ruled Latin’s priority use in that space to be illegal.
Additionally, the South Field has been designated as “open space”, by the Lincoln Park Framework Plan, which states that policies should “Respect and enhance existing land uses of historic significance and prohibit new facilities and land uses that are unrelated to historic land uses and that are not dependent upon being in Lincoln Park”. A soccer field or stadium clearly violates the guiding principles so carefully spelled out in the Framework Plan.
In fact, the site has never been subjected to any objective studies that could establish either the need or suitability for this construction. The Lincoln Park Framework Plan states emphatically that this area of Lincoln Park is already overburdened and that opportunities should be taken to DECREASE. NOT INCREASE built space and paved areas that are unessential to the park’s primary recreational and leisure activities. Added to all this is the environmental impact of increased noise and light pollution, along with the chemical and temperature hazards of artificial turf. Its infill, made from ground up rubber tires, has been found to contain carcinogens, along with harmful levels of lead. Following the lead of many states which have called for Moratoriums on any further installations of artificial turf until the long term safety of these facilities can be definitively established. by objective scientific examination, POP has called for a similar halt throughout Chicago.
2 Responses to “Tell the Park District and Alderman Daley that "No Means No!"”
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June 20th, 2008 at 07:26 PM Hi. I have a suggestion regarding the agenda of this meeting. The February meeting was a very successful kickoff of which you should be proud. However, at this point we need more substance. Recall that attendees in the February meeting were saying "we already know how bad this is...what can we do to stop it? What is the plan?" Are you going to announce in this meeting what the target "leverage point" is to stop the Park District? In the last fight, the leverage point was the that the construction had violated ordinances. Is the Park District's current plan equally vulnerable to a similar legal challenge? Or is a different approach required this time? (Threaten to protest the Olympic selection committee? Get a park preservation referendum on the ballot?) This meeting would be a good time to get buy in for the specific plan of action, rather than just being a rally.
July 6th, 2008 at 04:29 PM According to articles such as in the link below, Tim Mitchell and the Park District are currently being investigated by the FBI for alleged corruption associated with the multi-millions that they are paying Westrec/Brunswick: http://cbs2chicago.com/local/chicago.park.district.2.724356.html At first glance this may seem to be unrelated to their cozy soccer field deals. But it may not be unrelated if it demonstrates a pattern of improper business practices on the part of the Park District. Therefore, we should consider whether we and the FBI can help each other in any way, or at least we could call public attention to the broader scope of ongoing scandals since Timothy Mitchell became superintendent of the Park District.