Aldermen, Group Push To Preserve North Side Riverfront

CHICAGO, IL — Two aldermen are working alongside community groups and architects to push for the city to create a park beside the river on the city's North Side. The proposed land — between Cortland Street and North Avenue east of the river — will be sold to building developers unless the city takes action, the coalition said. The North Branch Park Preserve, which includes Aldermen Scott Waguespack, 32nd, and Michele Smith, 43rd, has voiced concern over a lack of adequate park space in the area if towers go up there.

The North Branch Park Preserve includes neighborhood groups, conservation organizations and architects. Preliminary plans for the new park include bike trails, playgrounds, sports fields and a nature preserve.

The firm Adrian Smith+Gordon Gill Architecture told Chicago Tribune columnist Ryan Ori that over the next decade, about 18 million square feet of high rises could go up in a 760 acre stretch of land along the riverside, from the south branch to the north.

The land in between Cortland and North Avenue that the coalition is trying to preserve is only about 24 of those acres. The land is currently mostly industrial.

The city told the Tribune that it was already working with Ald. Brian Hopkins to preserve 60 acres of open space in the area, and that the 24-acre proposal is "at odds with the outcome of that process."

First two images courtesy of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture LLP; third image via Google Maps