Monday, November 15, 2010

Public Meeting for Proposed Park at 16th and Wabash

Back in August we had a post that elicited quite a bit of discussion in regard to a proposed park at 16th and Wabash. We were glad to get a recent email from a reader notifying us of an upcoming public meeting discussing the park:
Alderman Fioretti and the Chicago Park District invite you to attend a public meeting to review conceptual plans for a new Chicago park near 16th Street and Wabash Avenue.
The site will be developed into a new park, with area residents and dog owners in mind. A dog friendly area will be part of the design as well as areas for residents without dogs.
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 17, 2010
1st District Chicago Police Station
1718 S. State Street
If you have any questions prior to the meeting, please contact Maritza Garcia in the 2nd Ward community service office at (312) 263‐9273 or Maritza.garcia@cityofchicago.org.
Since there was a lot of debate hopefully there will be a lot of turnout this Wednesday!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

A dog park would be great, I love dogs but don't presently own one. I DO have kids and feel that the SL is poorly equipped with playgrounds and parkland for them. I hope that there will be more parkspace focused for children to run. Cottontail Park is the minimum size I would suggest... and I would not let dogs urinate & #2 in the kids play area! GROSS! Why are dogs allowed to do this?

Being a SLoop resident, I would never own an "active" dog that needs to run all day, there are simply not enough open space options. How many dog parks are in Manhattan?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, there are dozens of dog parks/runs in Manhattan . . . it's pretty awesome and definitely something to aspire towards.

South Poop said...

Yes, AC #1, how many dog parks ARE there in Manhattan?

It's easy enough to find out - per the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, there are 30 (thirty) dog runs and off leash areas in Manhattan.

In the City of Chicago, there are 16 (sixteen) (maybe a couple more if the CPD website is out of date).

Manhattan square miles: 23 sq. miles. Population: 1,629,000 or so (wikipedia).

Chicago square miles: 234 sq. miles. Population: 2,853,000 or so (wikipedia).

Doh! Manhattan is 1/10th the area, and has twice as many dog parks.

The distinction between 'dog run' and 'off leash area' in Manhattan is also interesting:

Dog Runs: Dog runs are large, fenced-in areas for dogs to exercise unleashed. Created with the expertise of a Parks Department landscape architect and volunteers, the runs encourage play while supplying good drainage, safe lighting, and healthy plantings.

Of the 30 dog areas in Manhattan, 26 are 'Dog Runs'.

Designated Off-Leash Areas: Certain park areas allow dogs to be off-leash from the time the park opens until 9 a.m. AND from 9 p.m. until the park closes. Dog owners/attendants with dogs off-leash in these designated areas must obey all general rules, including having their dog under control at all times, licensing the dog, and carrying proof of the dog's rabies vaccination.

Get that? There are parks where dogs are allowed to run off leash during restricted hours (early morning, late evening).

There are 4 such 'off leash areas' in Manhattan.

These numbers do not include the other boroughs.

AC #2 has it right - this is DEFINITELY something to aspire towards.

Anonymous said...

Manhattan sounds so civilized!! Imagine, having active dogs, permitted off leash under their owner's control, frolicking in the parks during those hours when others are not usually there anyway. What a fantastic idea! One to aspire to certainly!!

Back to the proposed park being discussed at tomorrow's meeting. I look forward to hearing about it and contributing my own thoughts.

Diane said...

The parks for humans and kids in the south loop are crap and we are worried about a dog park? We live at 15th and Indiana and the dogs already take over the Mark Twain park, while the kids playground is in bad shape.

I then heard that the Alderman's office is backing the conversion of the park at 16th and Indiana into a private parking lot? Is this true? What the heck are these guys thinking?

Anonymous said...

I was at the meeting regarding the park at 16th & Indiana and the discussion basically gave me the impression that the deal was already done. I do agree with Diane, Mark Twain park could use some work and clean up. I found a used condom just outside of the railroad tie wall surrounding the park, gross! My kids were playing with cars and could have just as easily found it before I did. On a positive note, regardless of whether this new park is a grassy open field park, dog park or playground it will be an improvement over the empty lot that the space is right now.

Anonymous said...

I attended the meeting and also got the feeling that the park was a done deal. That said, the argument was made (and well made at that) that there are a lot parks in the South Loop, and the point is to continue fixing up other parks while creating new ones, each reaching out to different segments of the community. Coliseum Park, which is just 2 blocks down from the proposed dog park has a lovely playground and green area and tiny dog run (that could easily be converted into more play space for kids). While the main focus of the new park is for dogs and dog owners, one of the plans included a paved track around the Dog Friendly Area to encourage all neighbors to utilize the space, and both plans included a community stage space for outdoor concerts or meetings. Both concepts included trees and a concession stand that a private entity to could use (selling coffee, bottled water, what have you). A local neighbor who is building a restaurant next door piped up and said he was hoping to grow a community herb garden on the edge of his garden and his (planned) patio space.

As a dog owner, I'm obviously thrilled about this, not only for my dog, but as an area to go and get the dogs OUT of the other parks that kids are playing in. Maybe I'm being optimistic, but a dog zone would help cut down on the dog traffic in other parks, which seems to be the complaint that many parents have/had.

Anonymous said...

New restaurant? I guess this would be in the building to the south of the lot, since to the north is a parking lot owned by the church? Though I think this building has a for lease sign currently in the window. I remember hearing something about a restaurant in this area a year or more back, but thought it was defunct.

The owner would have plenty of natural fertilizer for his herb garden. lol

Anonymous said...

I went to the meeting too and found it very interesting. It seems like it is very important to quickly do something with the property before funds are diverted elsewhere.

Also, I was confused as to who owns the parking lot to the south of the church. I don't remember that being addressed, but I got the impression that the park district owns it as it will be part of the new park.

Also, I have never lived next to a dog park before, but I have walked by some. I don't remeber them being all that noisy, but nonetheless, should I be worried?

search engine marketing melbourne said...

Coliseum Park, which is just 2 blocks down from the proposed dog park has a lovely playground and green area and tiny dog run (that could easily be converted into more play space for kids). While the main focus of the new park is for dogs and dog owners, one of the plans included a paved track around the Dog Friendly Area to encourage all neighbors to utilize the space, and both plans included a community stage space for outdoor concerts or meetings. Both concepts included trees and a concession stand that a private entity to could use (selling coffee, bottled water, what have you