In an invitation without precedent the city last summer offered the public a chance to design a multimillion-dollar public works project–the relocation of part of Lake Shore Drive. “We wanted to listen to everyone,” says Tim Martin, chief highway engineer for the city’s Department of Transportation. “This project would have more public input than any other.”
Reinhaus wanted Soldier Field’s southern parking lots removed. The Bears wanted them to remain. Guess whose side the city planners took? “They asked us what we wanted, and we said, “Take those parking lots away,”‘ says Reinhaus. “So what did they do? They kept them, or most of them anyway. So much for the public’s viewpoint.”
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The 3,000 spaces in the two southern lots have long been a sore point with park users and activists. It’s a colossal waste to cover lakefront greenery with concrete so Bears fans can be within a few minutes of Soldier Field, their argument goes. Why not park those fans in Grant Park? For that matter, why worry about the Bears at all? They play only 10 or 11 days a year, incapable as they are of surviving round two of the playoffs. And team owner Mike McCaskey is always threatening to dump the city for whichever suburb’s dumb enough to build him a new field. Why not tell McCaskey to go in good health and replace the concrete with softball diamonds, tennis courts, soccer fields, or just grass?
So activists persuaded the City Council to pass an ordinance “requiring that $16.7 million be used to remove the northbound lanes,” says Tranter. “We thought we were covered. And we looked forward to participating in planning the project.”
He also points out that the neighborhoods just west of Soldier Field are bustling with new development. “We have Central Station, where the mayor lives, just on the other side of the train tracks from Soldier Field. It’s only a matter of time before more development moves into the industrial area to the south. These residents are going to want to have good parks nearby. And let’s not forget the existing population that’s been given promises of park improvement for the past 20 years. We would all like to be able to walk from our homes to the lake without having to cross a parking lot. Here was a chance to rectify some of the damage from building McCormick Place on the lakefront in the first place.”
For several days in November Tranter and other civic leaders negotiated with city officials. In the end the city agreed to drop the plan to convert the old northbound lanes to parking, though it pointed out that the Bears will lose several hundred of the existing parking spaces.
