Results tagged “chicagoparkdistrict”

The family of Walter Payton wants to put up a statue honoring the Bears legend, but they've been met with resistance from the Chicago Park District. It seems the Park District is a-okay with a statue of Payton going up - it is, after all, being donated by the Payton family - but has adopted a hard line of not allowing the statue to go up in the one place it makes sense: Soldier Field.

If the Summer Olympics do indeed come to Chicago in 2016, the Chicago Park District promised this week that they will contribute $20 million to aid in building a canoe and kayak slalom course on Northerly Island, which is double what their required financial commitment is set at. The contribution has not been submitted for board approval yet.

• The Chicago Park District has made the controversial decision to rename the site of "The Ft. Dearborn Massacre" (located at at 18th Street and Calumet Ave.) to "Battle of Ft. Dearborn Park."
• Will County Judge Stephen White today delayed a change of venue hearing on Drew Peterson's case until October 2nd and began preparing the jury pool.
• The Spire is looking even less likely than before.

• The University of Chicago has set up a site that allows people in Iran to fax their stories in to share on the web in the wake of the Iranian government's attempt to crack down on Twitter users. [via the Windy Citizen]
• Our pal Steve Rhodes wonders: if Lisa Madigan wants to run for governor, why does Obama want her to run for the Senate?
• An interesting read on the reform initiatives of Gov. Quinn.

A slightly reduced admission fee increase for the Art Institute of Chicago. After weeks of huffing and puffing from Ald. Ed Burke, the Chicago Park District Board, who sets the admission price, voted to increase adult admission from $12 to $16 instead of the proposed $18 and students/seniors admission from $8 to $10. One added bonus: they also raised the age limit for free child admission from 12 years to 14 years. [AP via WBBM]

Here's betting we're not the first nor last with that headline, but either way, surfing could be coming to five Chicago beaches soon, so sayeth the Sun-Times. A group of surfers has finally gotten their way and the Chicago Park District may just oblige them by opening up to five city beaches for the purposes of surfing.

• While no longer the state's top DUI locale as they were in 2006, Naperville was still No. 2 in 2008.
• A Wisconsin appeals court ruled last week that police in the state can attach GPS devices to cars for the purposes of tracking without a search warrant.
• Next up in furlough days: the Chicago Park Distrtict.

Summer is almost here (even if it doesn't feel like it) and that means lots of museum visitors. And, of course, there's been a big stink about the Art Institute's upcoming 50 percent admission hike. Under pressure from many directions - but most prominently Ald. Ed Burke - the Chicago Park District may give locals a break on the new admission fees to the count of $2. Instead of $18, local adults would pay $16 and local students and seniors would pay $10.

In the midst of all the snow and cold, perhaps a good way to cope is to daydream about warmer days, donning some ugly pants, and hitting the links for a round of golf. Your fantasy can now include new and improved golf courses, too, because the Chicago Park District has just announced that the city's 6 courses -- as well as the places more our speed, the 2 miniature golf facilities -- will be receiving a $5.5 million overhaul as part of a new contract with Billy Casper Golf Management of Vienna, Va. Previously, Northbrook-based KemperSports had managed the courses since their privitization in 1993. A little TLC on the greens is warranted, as Park District board president Gery Chico described them as not being able to "tell the difference between the fairways and the rough" and that there were "greens with no grass." And the Chicago area duffers deserve nice courses to play on, right?

Noting the lakefront locations of the Jackson Park, Marovitz (Waveland) and South Shore courses, [Peter Hill, chief executive of Casper Golf,] said they could become destination sites for putter-toting tourists.

Gah! At least he didn't mention anything about the Olympics. Yet.

Mayor Daley and the Chicago Park District are encouraging kids to learn how to swim. The Park District runs a wide variety of swim classes, including classes for toddlers, parents and kids together, and for people 18 and over who never learned how to swim. Good timing, too: the Olympic trials for swimming are this weekend. [ABC7]

Unlike so many political figures in Chicago, Tony Rezko didn't come from a background steeped in ward politics and clout. In fact, after he finished his degrees at IIT, did what most new immigrants to Chicago do: he got a job.

After the Trib ran a story about Wheeling's Amante Enad roasting pigs in his back yard in traditional Filipino fashion, the village issued him a citation barring the practice and asking him to fork over (hay-oh!) his roasting equipment. [Trib]

Born on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King would have been 79 this year. In 1984 an act of Congress made the third Monday of this month Martin Luther King Day. With most government offices closed today, there are a plethora of events honoring his memory. The Chicago Park District is holding a series of events dedicated to his legacy. The University of Chicago is hosting panels and speakers all week, with a series of films and documentaries this evening starting at 5 p.m. The DuSable Museum of African American History is holding workshops, performances and panel discussions on the legacy of the civil rights movement and the challenges it still faces in 21st century America. The Chicago History Museum kicks the day off with crafts and storytelling for children, followed by songs and spirituals performed by the Chicago Chamber Choir. At 1 p.m., LeRoyce Hawkins and Cameron Drake will perform Jeff Stetson's critically acclaimed "The Meeting", an imagined meeting between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, followed by a reading of King's "I have a Dream" speech.

Well, we didn't set out to have a fecal-theme day, but when it rains (poop), it pours (dog poop). A Gold Coast grandmother was fined $400 this week for flinging dog crap at the Latin School. Strange but true! What would prompt such an act? "I had just had it with Latin," she said. Kass works for CPS and is also minister, according to the Pioneer Local. [She says she] "just got tired of...

Let's keep the party going. The list continues! -That with Smoque, Honkey Tonk and relocated Honey1, we're finally getting some halfway decent BBQ in town within easy reach of the north side. - That we can know how most Chicago sports fans feel about a story simply by assuming it's the opposite of what Jay Mariotti thinks - That we won't be wasting more b-day money on Super Bowl t-shirts, Bears jerseys, etc. this...

Indoor Swimming Options?

The United States Olympic Committee awarded an Olympic Opportunity Grant earlier this month to World Sport Chicago. The Gloves not Guns program, run in cooperation with USA Boxing, the Police Athletic League, and the Chicago Park District, promotes the sport of boxing to Chicago's urban youth as a way to stay in shape--and out of trouble.

We've been itching to take a trip out of the concrete jungle and hit up a pumpkin patch. When we started our search for local places to check out, we were expecting to find a decent variety of spots to enjoy a nice hayride, sample some cider, and pick a pumpkin or two. Instead, what we found were farms chock full of the weirdest crap we've ever heard of. Whether you have kids in tow...

The smoking ban isn't just for bars anymore (well ... yet): The Chicago Park District wants to ban smoking on beaches and in playgrounds, too. And it looks like the plan will be approved by Wednesday, so run over to the playground and start puffing while you still can. The ban isn't just about keeping second-hand smoke away from the kiddies: It's environmental, too. Apparently you can collect 10,000 cigarette butts an hour cleaning up...

It almost plays like a plot from a trifling summer movie: The Illinois Medical District wants to build a new biotech building on the Near West Side. The kicker is, they want to build it in the same spot as a current Little League baseball field. In a letter dated Sept. 25, Medical District counsel states that the Chicago Park District must remove all improvements from Livingston Park, at Lexington and Leavitt, so that construction...

October in Chicago makes us feel like kids again. This month, the Mayor’s Office of Special Events and the Park District have filled the calendar with Halloween-themed activities perfect for the toddler set and their kid-at-heart parents. Here are our favorites in the lead up to the big holiday. The park district (along with Walgreens) is sponsoring events to get you in the spirit at over forty different neighborhood parks from Bessemer to Oz throughout...

We're all down with sculpture gardens. But are garden-gardens art? That’s the question artist Chapman Kelley (warning: pdf) is putting to the Chicago Park District — via a federal suit. Kelley alleges that the garden he designed and planted in Daley Bicentennial Plaza is art protected under the federal Visual Artists Rights Act. Not everyone agrees, saying that the flowers have run wild and that the garden occupied too much space. The park district reduced...

Former WKQX-FM 101.1 radio host Erich "Mancow" Muller filed a lawsuit Tuesday against his former employer, saying radio officials disparaged his show and blocked him from getting other work. We are getting pretty sick of the cell phone drivers, but we are always amazed at the cell phone bikers (not in a good way). Yesterday, an 19-year-old woman who was struck and killed by a garbage truck on the Northwest Side, was apparently talking...

BP announced yesterday that it was backing down on plans to increase discharges of ammonia and suspended solids into Lake Michigan from the planned expansion of its Whiting, Indiana refinery. BP announced on its website Thursday "ongoing regional opposition to any increase in discharge permit limits for Lake Michigan creates an unacceptable level of business risk for this $3.8 billion investment."

Going to Lollapalooza, we saw all sorts of oddities, curiosities and plenty of people handing out shit. The one group we stopped to talk to was the Chicago Park District, who were taking signatures for a petition to help stop BP/Amoco dumping their industrial waste into Lake Michigan over in Whiting, Ind. Point blank, it sucks. As someone on a message board commented, "even animals know not to defecate in their drinking water." No kidding....

Back in February, the Chicago Park District imposed a ban on bringing your pup to piddle in south Grant Park near Magdalena Abakanowicz's $3 million "Agora" art installation. Not only was this a popular spot for dogs to do their business (purportedly due to the bark-like color and texture of the sculptures) but has also become the subject of quite a bit of amateur photography, one such photo even appearing in Chicagoist's Top Ten Photos of 2006.

He had to promise them one of his lovely TIFs, but Daley did manage to convince mapmakers Navteq to stay in Chicago rather than relocating back to the Silicon Valley in California. It's the City of Chicago vs. Harry's Hot Dogs and the Showmen's League of America and a Giordano's restaurant. And throw in a travel agency too. City Hall wants the buildings at 300-308 W. Randolph torn down to make a small park...

All right, people. It's the moment you've been waiting for: as of Friday, the beaches are now open. Glee! Last one to dive headfirst into Lake Michigan is a piece of raw sewage ... much like Lake Michigan itself. Ah, but we poke fun at that body of water of ours. To be honest, the city is putting a pilot program into effect this bathing season in order to help out with that pesky E....

We’ve got eggs on the brain at Chicagoist today. A few weeks ago, we told you about a wild goose chase sanctioned by park officials. Apparently the Canada goose population has gotten way out of hand, and the Chicago Park District enlisted some volunteers to help control that population. The public was invited to help out a team of goose control experts with finding nests and preventing the eggs therein from reaching maturity. Oddly enough, baseball bats and steel-toed Docs were not encouraged.