Northerly Island

In 2010, a hundred years after Daniel Burnham proposed his 1909 Plan of Chicago, the Chicago Park District unveiled their own plan for Northerly Island. Last week, the park finally opened and I got a chance to visit this weekend while I was in town visiting family. While it has a long way to go I can’t wait to see how this area develops in the next few years. Most of the park remained fenced off and covered in erosion control matting while the prairie plants develop, but the potential for this place is immense.

 

Lake Michigan viewed from Northerly Island

Northerly Island remains the only component of Burnham’s original dream for the Chicago lakefront (he wanted 5 island parks!) that was ever built, and has served many roles since its construction was completed in 1925. It has hosted a World’s Fair in 1933, Meigs Field from 1946 to 2003, The Adler Planetarium (one of the best museums in Chicago) since 1930, one of my favorite concert venues (Charter One Pavilion/ FirstMerit Bank Pavilion) since 2005, and now will finally serve its original purpose. The 91 acre peninsula is being developed by the Chicago Park District to provide an urban greenspace that will feature beautiful views of the Chicago skyline and a calm retreat from city living. The park will feature native plants and will provide signage to educate visitors about the ecology of the Great Lakes. I’m so excited to see what the park will become, especially since for most of my life there has been talk to turn the area into an urban greenspace.

After Burnham’s death in 1912, the idea to put an airport on Northerly Island was suggested by a co-author on the Plan of Chicago, Edward H. Bennett. Although the airport, Meigs Field, was not able to be completed until 1946, it became famous throughout its 57 years of operation and the air traffic control tower still stands today. Microsoft Flight Simulator used Meigs Field as the default airport and I can remember being a kid sitting at the computer and flying around the city looking at the skyscrapers. The airport was commonly used by high profile visitors to the city who wanted to avoid attention and traffic caused by flying into O’Hare. While his father, Richard J. Daley, had expressed interest in closing the airport and turning it into a park, it was ultimately Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley who dealt the fatal blow to Meigs Field. In 1996, after the park district refused to renew the airport lease, Meigs field was temporarily closed. After pressure from Springfield, the airport reopened and a 25 year lease was compromised between Chicago and the State of Illinois in 2001. On March 30^th, 2003, Daley broke his compromise and sent demolition crews to Meigs Field, carving giant X’s in the runway and closing down the airport. 16 planes were stranded and had use the taxiway to takeoff from the defunct airport.

Daley’s actions remain highly controversial with proponents excited at the prospect of having a park that can be enjoyed by the public and opponents furious over the destruction of a beloved and unique airport. The controversy continued in 2006, when the city had to repay $1 million for misappropriation of funds from the FAA that were being used in the destruction of the airport and redevelopment of the park (that’s the Chicago way!).  However, this weekend as I walked through the park I could see that things ultimately wound up working out.

We entered the park near Adler Planetarium after a short walk over from my cousin’s condo in the south loop. Along the way we passed Burnham Harbor and all of the boats taking refuge from the morning’s storm. Saturday morning in Chicago was very stormy so there weren’t too many people out but when the clouds cleared up a bit we decided to make a break for it to check out the park. As we entered the park we passed 12^th Street Beach House. The beach was closed but there was a nice walking path through the park. Any signs of the airport were completely erased with the exception of the control tower. The landscape had been transformed, rolling hills and a beautiful lagoon in place of the old runway. You could tell that vegetation was newly planted and much of the ground remained uncovered erosion mats. However, the plants that were blooming were very pretty. Next year at the height of the summer the wildflowers are going to look amazing. The views of the skyline were excellent. We also passed some public art which was very beautiful. A series of statues entitled “The Daphne Garden” by Dessa Kirk depicted 3 beautiful statues of Daphne ( a Greek Mythological figure) made out of repurposed scrap metal.

Daphne Garden by Dessa Kirk

Daphne Garden with First Merit Bank Pavilion and the skyline in the background

The lagoon

There were fences up along the whole paved path to deter people from walking out onto the newly established vegetation but I was able to get a few nice pictures of wildflowers blooming at the tail end of the summer bloom. The park’s plan calls for certain areas to be open to people wandering and certain areas preserved from people, which will be awesome because it will allow people access to outdoor recreation while also creating restored prairie habitat. The city is also planning on installing a reef along the shore. It’s so cool to see more and more urban greenspace popping up in cities around the country. The importance of people’s relationship with the outdoors is becoming a central theme in design and urban planning and I am so excited to see the way the park looks when it is completed in a few years.