Chicago Reporter (https://www.chicagoreporter.com/tag/chicago-park-district/)
Ald. Leslie Hairston’s recent comments highlight the disconnect between officials and community activists working for environmental equity.
Objections and proposed changes to the major South Side developments are an opportunity for Mayor Lori Lightfoot to demonstrate her promises of openness and accountability.
Next week, a judge is expected to decide the fate of a project that could alter the South Side forever in limitless ways.
Friends of the Parks says it may seek legal action to ensure parks are funded equally.
The agency’s new approach to cleaning up hazardous waste sites favors private developers, sidelining input from the South and West Side communities most affected.
Whether it was the Lucas museum or a potential Olympics site, the mayor’s team has long oversold the use of parkland to private developers.
Little Village parents worried about the air pollution and chemicals deposited in soil at the former industrial site. Now children can safely play in La Villita, a park that was created after the property was cleaned up.
The influx of outsiders who trashed Humboldt Park last year crystallized neighborhood concerns about gentrification and use of public resources for private profit.
Projects at 25 parks across Chicago would lose $28 million for improvements if a state funding freeze is not reversed.
Jackie Robinson West’s journey to the U.S. Little League Championship title was paved by teams like the 1959 Tuley Park Comets, the first all-African-American team to win the Chicago Park District Little League title.