Preservationists want to turn Chicago’s lakefront into a National Park
"attempts to give away public open space to private institutions"
The problem with this argument is that they’re acting like private corporations are trying to come in and create private, gated communities and/or corporate campuses off limit to us average joes … and that’s simply not the case. There hasn’t been a single development proposed that’s not intended FOR the general public. The Lucas Museum was a museum that wanted to be located on …. wait for it … the museum campus (oh, the humanity). And while Obama’s location choice was a really, really bad decision IMO, it’s still a development with a community focus, i.e. we’ll ALL get to use it.
I’m all for keeping the parks, beaches and lake free and clear … but there’s obviously nuance to this discussion as part of the entire DRAW for these parks are the world-class institutions that dot the landscape and attract millions of people to visit and pump money into our city/economy. Our Museum Campus is one of the most beautiful in the world – and if the Museum of Narrative Art was actually built we would have had yet another world-class establishment in our portfolio to generate much-needed tourist and tax dollars (not to mention the fact that the proposed design actually added green-space to the site). Yet, as it stands, we have a seldom-used parking lot. Who in their right mind could think that’s a fair juxtaposition?
It’s a great museum and an important resource for our local community. It has an international reputation – it’s my favorite holocost museum in the world.