City Council this afternoon voted 33-16 in favor of the plan to put the Children's Museum in a hole in Grant Park. What now? Alderman Brendan Reilly says he's going to court. Reilly promised a flurry of lawsuits -- and an attempt to seek a temporary restraining order blocking construction. Museum attorney Ted Novak said he does not believe the opposition will be able to meet the high legal standard needed to obtain a......

Cartoon for Chicagoist by Tim Daly......

The City Council's Zoning Committee approved the Children's Museum's move to Grant Park today by a 6-3 vote after six hours of testimony. Next up, the whole City Council votes on the plan next Wednesday, and Mayor Daley says he has all the votes he needs to get the plan approved. From the Sun-Times: Prior to [today's] final vote, [42nd Ward Alderman Brendan] Reilly tried to get the Zoning Committee to put off a decision,......

Yeah, yeah, we've been posting a lot of tulip pictures, but...so pretty! Photo by fatalysis The three-judge appellate court unanimously ruled today that the city of Chicago cannot be held liable in the E2 nightmare that killed 21 people. A lawyer for the victims' families say they're going to appeal. [Trib] Have you seen Rufus? [CL] The Plan Commission approved the Children's Museum's proposal yesterday, 13-2. [Trib] Yesterday, the Illinois house passed a bill,......

Photo by From Dap-dap to the World The Bus Tracker program will include 18 additional routes starting Monday, May 19. [Trib] "Unusual Actions: [] Hiccuping []Belching []Vomiting []Fighting [X]Crying []Laughing []Other." [Reader] U of I running back and 23rd overall draft pick Rashard Mendenhall was robbed at gunpoint last night on the South Side. He's fine. [S-T] Blair Kamin says there's going to be a debate between Alderman Brendan Reilly (42nd) and Children's Museum......

The Chicago Children's Museum released a revised architectural plan today, and the new take doesn't include the 16-foot skylights from the original proposals. According to the really fancy press release, "In effect, the project involves the replacement of approximately 400 enclosed under-plaza parking spaces with 100,000 square feet of museum space and a Chicago Park District field house." The new design also includes substantially shrinking the entryway and putting it on park property, and......

Cartoon for Chicagoist by Tim Daly......

Photo by CoryDalus The Park District announced yesterday that it approved the Daley-endorsed plan to move the Chicago Children's Museum to Grant Park. The proposal goes in front of the Planning Commission probably in May and in front of the City Council most likely in June. The meeting yesterday also confirmed that the naming rights to the museum will still be going to Allstate. The Planning Commission is pretty much set to endorse the......

Movies in Grant Park photo by JVoves The Chicago Children's Museum is moving ahead with plans to build its new facilities in Grant Park, despite serious objections from what appears to be everyone who's not the Children's Museum or Mayor Daley. We can put the Sun-Times on the list of organizations that are against the move. Today's editorial says that "[b]uilding a children's museum in Grant Park is still a bad idea," before trotting......