Gee, that looks like fun. UNTIL SOMEONE GETS KILLED! Only kidding— this proposed skate park in South Grant Park is an amenity worth celebrating, if only for its magnetism to skaters who might otherwise be grinding your stoop. Word has been out on a pending overhaul of a 3-acre section of South Grant Park for a long while now, but DNAinfo's presentation of renderings constitutes a first sighting. Grant Park Conservancy's Bob O'Neil shared the preliminary images from landscape architecture firm Altamanu which depict a crafty skate park, a build-out of rolling hills, new trees, and a small performance space to be utilized by various cultural/educational institutions. The skate park was developed in consultation with skateboarders, some of whom told O'Neil of their bad habits of grinding sculpture at the MCA. Instead of chastising them, O'Neil and the Conservancy enlisted the same sculptor [Dan Peterman] to build similar sculptures as obstacles in the skating course. Likewise, elements of public plazas will be replicated.
The project is a valuable injection of interest in an under-utilized section of park on the city's doorstep, though it doesn't compare in size or amenities to the 20-acre North Grant Park overhaul (now Maggie Daley Park). Community meetings are still to come, with construction expected to begin early next year.
·Grant Park Skate Park First Look [DNAinfo]
·North Grant Park Cleared, Maggie Daley Soon to Take Shape [Curbed Chicago]
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