Public Gets a Glimpse of Bloomingdale Trail

In front of a packed-house crowd at the Humboldt Park Field House on Monday, civic leaders and designers outlined their plan for the 2.7-mile stretch known as the Bloomingdale Trail and Park.

It's a dazzling vision. Sprinkled throughout the elevated multi-use trail to connect Wicker Park, Bucktown, Humboldt Park and Logan Square would be performance spaces, picnic areas, a skate park, dense forestry and public art, all created with nods toward sustainability. The Tribune's Blair Karmin has said it "could be Chicago's next great public space."

The project is overseen by a handful of public bodies and nonprofits, but the vast majority of funding for development and construction, some $37 million, comes from the federal government.

Residents were surprised earlier this year to learn that the Chicago Park District would be kicking in $2 million to bolster $7 million already donated by blue-chip donors like Exelon, Boeing and CNA to get the project under way, according to Grid Chicago.

The hundreds of residents who packed the auditorium at Monday's public meeting were invited to view mock-ups of seven different trail sections, from the eastern-most portion between Ashland and Marshfield Avenues all the way to Ridgeway Avenue on the west.

Construction is slated to begin in summer 2013, with parts of the trail, the so-called Bloomingdale Basics, to open in 2014. The remaining additions to the trail that include finishing touches is slated to be completed by 2015.

View the entire map and notes from Monday's presentation on the Grid Chicago website.