In the wake of an editorial in Sunday’s Tribune urging expanded efforts to construct a bigger, better Chicago Children’s Museum at Navy Pier, four major candidates for mayor have staked out positions against moving the museum to Grant Park.
Good for them. Gery Chico, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, City Clerk Miguel del Valle and Carol Moseley Braun, thank you for emerging as leaders eager to resolve this long-festering dispute.
This is how candidates distinguish themselves. Voters see who wants to get things done — in this case for generations of children. What better way to measure how a person would govern than by watching whether he or she is a healer?:
* Chico, a former president of the Chicago Park District board, told us Wednesday that he wants to be the mayor who ends the divisiveness — and the costly-to-taxpayers litigation — that the proposed move to Grant Park has generated. “This is a children’s museum,” he said. “This shouldn’t be mired in controversy.” His solution: Help the existing museum improve into a world-class institution — at Navy Pier. Chico understands that as downtown Chicago expands as a residential neighborhood, that influx of families creates new burdens for the limited parkland available. “The better public policy,” he said, “is to keep our parks parks.”
This is a change of position for Chico, who in 2008 voted as a Park District trustee to support the museum’s proposed move. As mayor, he would be positioned to lead others who initially tolerated this proposal to a better solution. Chico says he now opposes a move because the dynamics and economics of the project have changed: Fundraising problems at the Children’s Museum not only have stalled its proposed move, but also have stalled what were to be two related Park District initiatives — reconstruction of underground parking in northeastern Grant Park and creation of a child-themed park above that garage.
The Chico campaign’s bottom line: Grant Park is no longer a viable option for the museum.
Davis told us he sides with Streeterville residents and their alderman, Brendan Reilly, in opposing the move. “I’m a strong proponent of local decision-making in these matters,” he said. “Since 1836, this has been dedicated open space, and the residents want to keep it that way. I agree with the residents.”
Del Valle’s campaign director told us his candidate is “100 percent behind Ald. Reilly on this.” If the Children’s Museum needs more room than Navy Pier can offer, del Valle would back a relocation — but not to Grant Park: “He’s a supporter of open spaces.”
A spokesman for Moseley Braun told us that the candidate opposes using parkland for the Children’s Museum. She thinks there are many places it would be at home. But she also thinks that, for now, Navy Pier needs the museum to help attract all those millions of visitors.
Other candidates are weighing in. State Sen. James T. Meeks said he favors the museum in Grant Park, but he’s not “wedded” to the idea. “Wherever we think the highest volume of tourism is, that’s where it should be,” he said.
We know the answer to that. Navy Pier is by far the biggest tourist attraction in the Midwest, with 8 million visitors a year — and plans are afoot to hike that number to 12 million.
A spokesman for Rahm Emanuel told us the candidate “is open to options that settle this issue and put it behind us — including leaving the Children’s Museum at Navy Pier.”
We would love to report that with campaign momentum growing against a move, the Children’s Museum sees the wisdom in a spectacular future at Navy Pier. The context, explained in Sunday’s editorial, is that planners of the pier’s massive overhaul want it still anchored by a major children’s attraction. But in a conversation Wednesday, a spokeswoman said the museum sees room for both a revitalized Navy Pier and a new and dynamic museum in Grant Park.
We’re all for a new and dynamic Children’s Museum — anywhere but Grant Park, and preferably as a key to Navy Pier’s rebirth. Maybe the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which runs Navy Pier, will make an irresistible offer to the museum board.
If not, perhaps Chicago’s next mayor will defend Grant Park — and Navy Pier.
