Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday will introduce an ordinance to transfer at least 20 acres of public parkland to the city if President Barack Obama decides to build his library and museum in either Washington Park or Jackson Park on the South Side, according to a source close to the process.
The move, designed to strengthen the University of Chicago's bid to place the library in one of the two parks, would allow the Chicago Park District to transfer either 20 acres in Jackson Park or approximately 21 acres in Washington Park.
The transfer, however, would take place only if the U. of C. is selected to host the presidential center. If one of the other three bidders - the University of Illinois at Chicago, Columbia University in New York or the University of Hawaii in Honolulu - is chosen to host the library, the land would remain in the hands of the Park District, according to the intergovernmental agreement.
The proposal to transfer parkland to the city for $1 has sparked a heated debate in Chicago, pitting park preservationists against residents of the surrounding South Side neighborhoods who fear they could lose a chance of securing the library if the parkland is not made available.
In an interview this week, Cassandra Francis, president of Friends of the Parks, said open space groups would not rule out legal action to stop the city from moving forward.
"This is a decision of great magnitude that impacts the entire city, not just these parks but many parks," Francis said, commenting before disclosure of the proposed ordinance. "The attempt to transfer land from the Park District to the city will set a precedent that would allow this to happen again. It's a very slippery slope."
The ordinance is expected to easily pass the City Council. The Park District is expected to consider the intergovernmental agreement at its Feb. 11 meeting.
The U. of C.'s proposal calls for the library to be built on 3 to 5 acres of parkland. The agreement says the library can occupy only up to 5 acres; the ordinance would require that the remaining 15 to 18 acres be maintained as open space on the presidential center grounds.
In addition, the ordinance calls for the city to replace the 3 to 5 acres given up for the building with an equal amount of land elsewhere in the city that could be converted to green space. The source close to the process told the Tribune that the structure would occupy less than 5 acres.
"We wanted to make clear this will not be a 20-acre building covering the site," the source said.
The mayor plans to assemble a group of community leaders and open space advocates to identify potential land in the city to be converted to green space, as well as look for opportunities to reinvest in and restore the parks designed by noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. The committee also will come up with recommendations for maintaining that vision within the space immediately surrounding the library.
The 350-acre Washington Park was designed by Olmsted and his partner, Calvert Vaux, the same team that designed New York's Central Park. Olmsted also laid out the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in the 543-acre Jackson Park. That area was the home of Daniel Burnham's famed "White City," of which only the Museum of Science and Industry remains.
If either site were chosen for the Obama library, the entire park would see improvements.
"That ... is why we're creating an open space committee aimed at figuring out how to revitalize and invest in the park, now that it has such a major anchor investment in it. That committee will focus on the other 15 acres and the remainder of the park," the source said.
UIC's bid calls for building the library in North Lawndale on the West Side. The city already owns that 23-acre site. The library and museum would be constructed on a vacant spot near Roosevelt Road and South Kostner Avenue, accessible from the CTA's Blue Line. Emanuel has vowed to reopen the shuttered Kostner Avenue CTA station and facilitate the transfer of the city-owned land to the foundation if UIC is chosen.
The proposed ordinance to transfer parkland in the Washington Park or Woodlawn neighborhoods comes after a source close to the Barack Obama Foundation, the nonprofit group charged with overseeing the site selection process and building the presidential center, leaked to the news media that it had problems with both Chicago bids.
The source said the foundation was concerned that the new leadership at UIC would not have the same level of commitment to the project as the previous administration. That problem was addressed sufficiently when the incoming chancellor wrote a letter to the foundation's chairman, Martin Nesbitt, saying he was strongly committed to hosting the library.
The U. of C.'s proposal, however, was more complicated. The foundation's source said it had concerns that the university had proposed building the library on land it did not own. That prompted Emanuel to propose the land transfer.
The university proposes building on 20 acres in western Jackson Park in Woodlawn, bounded by South Stony Island Avenue to the west, South Cornell Avenue to the east, East 60th Street to the north and East 63rd Street to the south.
It also has proposed about 21 acres in western Washington Park and 11 acres outside of it, stretching as far west as South Prairie Avenue, and encompassing the Garfield Green Line stop. The park space is bounded by South King Drive to the west, Ellsworth Drive to the east, East Garfield Boulevard to the south and East 51st Street to the north.
The parcels outside of Washington Park are controlled by a combination of owners, including the U. of C., the city of Chicago, the CTA and private individuals or companies.
According to the agreement, the city is able to initiate the transfer under an Illinois law that authorizes state and local governing bodies to cooperate in the performance of their responsibilities by contracts and agreements. State law also authorizes municipalities to convey, grant or transfer real estate held by the municipality to any other municipality upon the agreement of the respective parties.
The Park District held two days of public hearings, each attended by hundreds of people. Supporters of using parkland for the library brought in hundreds of people on buses. Those who spoke against using parkland were primarily park preservationists and residents of the nearby Hyde Park community.
According to the source, the ordinance speaks to the strength of both the U. of C. and UIC proposals, and the mayor is actively working with both institutions in support of their bids.
"The city wishes to demonstrate its robust commitment to bringing the Presidential Center to Chicago as it would indelibly seal President Obama's close and abiding relationship to the city, as well as provide a unique cultural and economic opportunity for Chicago's residents," the ordinance states.