5th time's not the charm for Children's Museum design
GRANT PARK | Skylights no longer above ground; but foes call it ploy
Plans for a new $100 million Children's Museum in Grant Park have been re-designed for a fifth time to further reduce the museum's above-ground profile, but residents of local high-rises were not appeased.
Four "iceberg-style" skylights that would have stood 16 feet above ground would be replaced by "windows built into the park slope" with no above-ground protrusions.
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A glass-enclosed entry pavilion would remain 20 feet above ground. But, it would be turned into a much smaller elevator entrance that takes up 1,000 square feet, instead of 4,000. The entry would also be moved from park land to a sidewalk adjacent to Randolph Street.
Plans for an interior courtyard for museum patrons have been scrapped in favor of a series of public park terraces.
Children's Museum CEO Jennifer Farrington said the new design "makes the park and the museum better." It also strengthens the legal case to build in Grant Park in preparation for, what could be a marathon court battle.
"We were pretty confident in our compliance before. The changes further ensure this is in compliance. It's an even better design that preserves views and seamlessly integrates into the park land. It ensures as much green space as is there now," Farrington said.
Peggy Figiel co-founder of Save Grant Park dismissed the latest architectural tweak as "a transparent attempt to get the camel's nose under the tent."
The Mayor Daley-controlled Chicago Plan Commission is scheduled to consider the revised plan on May 15. That will be followed by a City Council showdown in June.
"Who really believes they're gonna build a Children's Museum in a cave? Once they get permission, they'll alter their plans," Figiel said.
Calling the re-design insignificant and a political ploy, Figiel argued that the "cave design" violates three provisions of 172 years of legal protections that have kept Grant Park "forever open, free and clear," as Montgomery Ward once put it.
"The entrance [pavilion] would violate it. The fact they'll charge admission violates it. And the fact that you can't hand over public land to a private institution," Figiel said.
She added, "Everyone would love to be in Grant Park. It's the ideal site. But, it's illegal. It's time for the museum to tell the public what their second and third choices are."
Farrington said she's not surprised that residents of the high-rises surrounding Daley Bicentennial Plaza near Millennium Park were not appeased by the fifth re-design in the museum's three-year campaign for a new home.
"There are some folks who are not looking to have their minds changed," she said.
Last fall, downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) set the stage for a confrontation with Mayor Daley when he declared his opposition to building a new Children's Museum in Grant Park.
Daley responded by accusing opponents of having racial motives, portraying it as a fight for the city's future and demanding that the decision be made by all 50 aldermen--not just one. That would be a clean break from City Council tradition, which calls for the Council to follow the lead of the local alderman on development and zoning issues.
