Like many Chicagoans, we noted with mixed emotions last week’s news that the Chicago Children’s Museum may not be able to claim a piece of Grant Park with its museum-in-a-crypt. We support the museum, not its proposed land grab. Maybe financial difficulties will do what common sense thus far hasn’t: convince museum directors to pick a more affordable, more popular and less arrogant alternative to the ruinous plan they’ve tried to jam down Chicago’s throat.
Crain’s Chicago Business first reported that, “Fundraising has foundered while projected costs have climbed by tens of millions to $150 million or more. … Sources close to the project say odds now are 50-50 at best that the Grant Park plan will proceed.” The story said options include downsizing the proposed museum catacomb, getting a cash infusion from the Chicago Park District or extending the museum’s current lease at Navy Pier.
Museum officials responded with a statement that they are “moving forward with our plan to relocate to Daley Bicentennial Plaza in Grant Park” and that, “Any reports that the project is in peril are erroneous.”
So we’re not sure what to think. Perhaps Crain’s and the other news outlets that reported similar stories are all wrong. Perhaps a down economy has caused fundraising problems the museum doesn’t want to admit. Perhaps prospective donors want no association with the hubris of the influential Chicagoans and suburbanites who would seize part of Grant Park for their pet project. The museum officials’ unstated motto: “We’re going to get away with this. You know why? We have clout at City Hall.”
Grant Park’s unique legal protections have been blocking this sort of us-first invasion since 1836. Four times, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed that Chicago’s lakefront gem must remain as originally designated: “forever open, clear and free.”
The museum officials’ determination to have their way with Grant Park has damaged the reputation of the institution they serve. Imagine the sorry result if they cling stubbornly to their Grant Park obsession, only to settle for some cheap-and-shrimpy underground tomb, not the subterranean edifice they envisioned in headier times.
Better to stay at Navy Pier — the museum helps make it the top tourist attraction in the entire Midwest — or to choose from the many excellent alternatives. Last year this page offered a series of editorials examining several of those sites and the rich possibilities they offer. We invite you to explore the alternatives at the Grant Park Clearinghouse, which we created for you to peruse: chicagotribune.com/clearinghouse.
We hope the museum’s 46 directors will restore the image of their institution — and give generations of children a more joyful experience — by choosing an above-ground alternative to the taking of Grant Park:
Gigi Pritzker Pucker, chairman
Robert Barnett, vice chairman
Kevin F. Flynn, treasurer
Prue Beidler
Ananth Bhogaraju
Jodi Block
Meredith Bluhm-Wolf
Carole Brown
Blakely Bundy
Bruce Cohen
Brendan Deely
Laura Dunne
Marilyn Eisenberg
Justin Friesen
Frank Ginn
Jacqueline Griesdorn
Darrel Hackett
Karen Harrison
Adam Hecktman
Lindy Hirschsohn
Paula Kahn
Jeff King
Julie Latsko
Peggy Lim
Todd Lippman
William A. Lowry
Barbara Goodman Manilow
Christian McGrath
Robert Mendonsa
Maydene Moore
Nadine Moore
Suzanne Muchin
Charlene Huang Olson
Jeffery S. Perry
Teresa Poggenpohl
Camille Rudge
Gary Rudnick
Rex Sessions
James Smith
Steve Solomon
Mary Tyree
Lisa Walker
Robb Webb
Brenda Wolf
Thomas Zidar
Ronna Zoll
