No sooner had the Chicago Park District made news for considering layoffs and fee increases to balance it's nearly $400 million budget than it made news again, this time for asking the park board to greenlight a $4.2 million project to redesign 25 acres of the north end of Grant Park, from Millennium Park to Lake Shore Drive. The project involves hiring New York-based landscape architects Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc. Gia Biagi, the district's planning and development director, told the Sun-Times that Valkenburgh was chosen because of the firm's extensive work on urban landscapes. more ›

Like the city of Chicago and the CTA, the Chicago Park District is facing budget deficits as well in 2010, to the tune of $23 million. The park district is looking at a number of ways to balance their $391.8 million budget, including laying off some full-time employees and increasing a number of fees. more ›