Just before leaving for a river-rafting vacation in Oregon a few weeks ago, 42nd Ward Alderman Burt Natarus told me he was feeling “healthy and good” and that he was going to run for alderman again in 1999.
The 42nd has always been one of the city’s most interesting wards and Natarus has been its alderman since 1971.
But, after a ward remapping went into effect in 1995, bringing parts of the old 1st Ward into the 42nd, Natarus has been overseeing a Superward that is virtually a city unto itself.
Here are just some of the things in the 42nd Ward: about 56,000 people, three of the five tallest buildings in the United States, Grant Park, McCormick Place, the Gold Coast, Little Italy, the Magnificent Mile, the Merchandise Mart, Navy Pier, the Loop, the city’s two major newspapers and a number of radio and TV stations, City Hall and the home of the mayor.
Natarus has a penchant for attracting media attention by complaining–about street musicians, parasailers and newsstands. He likes to name streets in honor of celebrities.
But he is an affable and lively sort, who recalls a more colorful and, frankly, more engagingly eccentric City Council.
