FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 19, 2024
Contact: Jack Spicer
+1.872.226.2240
Debra Hammond
+1.312.285.4761
Promontory Point Conservancy Awarded $130,000+ in Grants for Preservation Plans
The Promontory Point Conservancy is pleased to be the recipient of over $130,000 in grants to fund further preservation design studies of Promontory Point, Burnham Park, Chicago. This includes a $2,000 award from the Donnelley Preservation Fund of Landmarks Illinois, $15,000 from the Johanna Favrot Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and a $113,500 built-environment award from The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. 

Funds from The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation will complete the preservation design studies currently being undertaken by McLaren Engineering Group for the Conservancy. These studies will demonstrate the viability of rehabilitating the Point’s shoreline revetment and parkland while completely preserving its iconic limestone block structure. The results of these studies are expected to be released later this fall. This plan will be the only plan, to date, that combines storm damage and shoreline protection, preservation of the historic limestone, and ADA accessibility.

In April, McLaren and the Conservancy released their condition studydemonstrating all of the Point’s historic limestone revetment functions for storm damage and shoreline protection. And the identifiable deteriorations of the promenade's sub-grade material and a few dozen limestone blocks may be repaired with relative ease cost-effectively. McLaren will also be completing a cost-benefit analysis for preservation options versus demolition and new construction. The City (CDOT), the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers previously contended that the Point’s limestone revetment had failed for storm damage and shoreline protection, requiring demolition and new construction with concrete barriers.

Grant funds from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Landmarks Illinois will be used to engage an historic treatments consultant to ensure that these design plans comply with federal preservation standards mandated by the Point’s landmark status and to complete an Historic Structures Report (the first in the 24-year struggle to save the Point) as required by preservation regulations.
While CDOT, the Park District, and the Army Corps have been disappointingly opaque in their approach to the Point’s rehabilitation process, the Conservancy hopes to follow a procedure that is scientifically sound, legal, and transparent, accessible, and publicly informed. The Conservancy will be conducting community meetings in the fall to gather community input and refinement to McLaren’s preservation design plans. We look forward to working with the public, the agencies, and our elected officials to ensure the wants and needs of the surrounding communities are the motivation behind, rather than a barrier to, a plan for Promontory Point. 
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The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation has awarded Promontory Point Conservancy a generous grant to complete our coastal engineering design study. Earlier this month, the Conservancy also won two grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Landmarks Illinois for an historic treatments consultant to work with McLaren and ensure preservation standards are met in the design plan. We are highly delighted and greatly honored by these awards! 

The Driehaus built-environment grant allows us to resume work with our coastal engineers McLaren Engineering Group and to complete the Alternatives Design Study and Cost-Benefit Analysis for Promontory Point. Watch for the release of this study this fall and for the community meetings we will be holding: we will be gathering your input and feedback for refinement of the Community’s Legitimate Preservation Plan for the Point. Our plan is the only plan, to date, that combines storm damage and shoreline protection, preservation of the historic limestone and ADA accessibility.

The grants from the National Trust and Landmarks Illinois allow us to hire an historic treatments consultant to complete an Historic Structures Report, the first in the 24-year history of the struggle to Save the Point, as required by federal regulations, to advise and assist McLaren so that its design plans comply with preservation standards and to coach the Conservancy through the federally mandated Section 106 Review which the Chicago Division of the U.S. Army Corps could begin as soon as next spring. Construction at Promontory Point will most likely begin spring 2026.
​
Our gratitude to The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Landmarks Illinois for their support and generosity.
And thank you, all, for your ongoing support of our work to protect and preserve Promontory Point and the community that gathers there.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2024
Contact: Jack Spicer
+1.872.226.2240
Debra Hammond
+1.312.285.476
Elected Officials, City of Chicago and the Community Agree: No Concrete At Promontory Point
Promontory Point Conservancy is pleased to announce that a statement from the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), Chicago Parks District (CPD), and the Chicago Division of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, addressed to 5th Ward Alderman Desmon Yancy, denies any plans to replace Promontory Point’s iconic limestone revetment and promenade with a concrete alternative. Although earlier governmental plans obtained by the Conservancy indicated otherwise, now “there is no intention of replacing the limestone with a continuous concrete revetment,” said the City on April 4, 2024. 
Speaking to community members on Thursday, April 4, Alderman Yancy read aloud the City’s statement, and called on the City to “listen to the community, let the community lead, and make sure Promontory Point is restored using natural limestone and not poured concrete.”
The City’s statement came in response to the release of an independent Condition Study released by the Conservancy concluding that the Point’s limestone revetment is both repairable and provides more-than-adequate storm damage and shoreline protection as it is. The City did not say it has changed its previous judgement that the limestone revetment had failed, or whether it would dispute the findings of the McLaren Engineering Group concluding it has not failed.    
The Conservancy also notes the City’s repeated commitment to restoring the Point according to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s preservation standards, a commitment which will require the full preservation of the existing limestone, and will not be compatible with even partial concrete replacement. 
State Senator Robert Peters (D-13) also spoke, announcing the introduction to the Illinois legislature of a resolution to “Save the Point”. He stated that the resolution is intended to “further organizing efforts to make sure the City does the right thing,” and raise awareness for the preservation efforts outside the Hyde Park area.
Friends of the Parks interim President Gin Kilgore also spoke, praising McLaren’s evaluation and credentials. “We have a legitimate study that will [help] save public funds, protect the shoreline, and maintain access.” She said. “Friends of the Parks urges our public agencies to be responsive to community priorities, and respectful of the historic spots that give Chicago character.”
Other speakers included Cook County Commissioner Bill Lowry (3rd District), Landmarks Illinois’ Kendra Parzen, and Preservation Chicago Executive Director Ward Miller. For additional quotes and highlights from each speaker, please find footage available here.
The Conservancy and elected officials look forward to collaboration with the City on a preservation plan to retain and repair the current limestone revetment in place.  McLaren’s forthcoming Alternative Design Study Report will provide strategies, design options and cost estimates for repairing and preserving the historic revetment without replacing it with new construction. To date, this will be the only plan that meets storm damage and shoreline protection criteria AND preservation standards.
The Conservancy urges the City, the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Corps to accept the elected officials’ call for community leadership and collaboration, full transparency, and legitimate preservation plans for saving the limestone revetment at Promontory Point. 
###

Here is the statement from CDOT that Alderman Yancy read at our April 4th press conference:

"Statement for 4/4/2024"
"The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), the Chicago Park District, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as partners in the implementation of the Chicago Shoreline Project, look forward to reviewing the report released today. Any data and input will be valuable during the planning and design process needed to meet the goals of reducing coastal storm damage while preserving the limestone and historic nature of Promontory Point."
"The project partners have publicly expressed their commitment to the preservation of Promontory Point in a manner that is consistent with the Secretary of Interior Standards for Historic Preservation. There is no intention of replacing the limestone with a continuous concrete revetment."
"No planning or design work has started on the Promontory Point section of the Shoreline Protection Project. We look forward to working closely with the community, elected officials, and other stakeholders on developing a rehabilitation plan that preserves the limestone and historic character of this beloved segment of shoreline for future generations."
​
Erica Schroeder
Director of Public Information 
Chicago Department of Transportation 
office: 312-744-0707
cell: 312-520-8210

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 4, 2024

​Today Promontory Point Conservancy and McLaren Engineering Group release the results of a condition study of Chicago’s Promontory Point, concluding unequivocally that the iconic limestone block revetment currently in place along the Point’s shoreline is structurally sound, provide critical shoreline protection for the inland park and south lakefront, and may be easily rehabilitated. 
The full results of the study will be announced at The Promontory, 5311 South Lake Park Avenue West, 10 A.M. CDT, with comments from 5th Ward Alderman Desmon Yancy, State Senator Robert Peters (D-13), and Cook County Commissioner Bill Lowry (D-3). Please find the full text of the study here.
For 24 years, the Chicago Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Chicago Park District, and the Chicago Department of Transportation have claimed that the Point’s historic limestone revetment has failed, and must be replaced with a continuous concrete embankment. They have expressed their intentions to close the Point to the public for three to five years to complete this work. McLaren’s study demonstrates that this conclusion is incorrect, and that repairing and maintaining the current limestone structure is both feasible and more cost-efficient than the demolition and replacement plans obtained from the City and the Chicago Corps. 
It has been documented that the Point’s limestone provides equal or better shoreline protection than the proposed concrete replacement. McLaren also concurs with projections of another century of service life, with proper maintenance. The study determined that accessibility modifications may be easily made to the existing structure. As a result, it also concluded that the cost of removing the limestone for a new concrete structure will be dramatically higher than simple preservation and repair. 
McLaren is an industry leader in the analysis of waterfront structures, with nearly 50 years of experience in civil engineering design and assessment. The study was conducted by a team of engineer-divers responsible for every step of the analyzing process. For more statistics and conclusions, please refer to the attached fact sheet and full report text. 
The Conservancy and McLaren will release an Alternative Design Study containing proposals and strategies for such an approach later this summer. These proposals will fulfill storm damage and shoreline protection as well as legal preservation criteria. 
The Conservancy invites CDOT, the Park District, and the Chicago Corps to collaborate with us, our elected officials, and the community in developing a solution beneficial to everybody’s interests. To preserve the limestone is to preserve the community that has gathered at the Point for decades. It is an investment to ensure that future Chicagoans may enjoy this park with the same fullness we do now. 
### 
For written inquiries please contact Malachi Hayes at ([email protected])

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 26, 2024

Promontory Point Conservancy Holds the City To Its Preservation Commitment at Promontory Point

Promontory Point Conservancy appreciates the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Chicago Park District’s (CPD) public commitment to “taking a preservation-based approach” to new designs and construction at Promontory Point. A genuinely preservation-minded approach at the Point creates an easy win-win for the City of Chicago (City) and the community: the City, CPD, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers get strong storm damage and shoreline protection, while the community continues to enjoy the limestone revetment and the lakeside park it loves so well.

The Conservancy and the community will hold these agencies to their promise of creating a plan for genuine preservation. Earlier this week, CDOT issued a statement on behalf of the City about their intentions for the Point and its preservation at the behest of 5th Ward Alderman Desmon Yancy. The Conservancy applauds their commitment to genuine preservation through adhering to the rigorous legal guidelines set by the Secretary of the Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties (SOI standards).

Yet, we remain vigilant on behalf of the community. The Conservancy has obtained a recent drawing by CDOT and its preferred contractor, SmithGroup, of a so-called “preservation-based approach” for the Point that, in fact, demolishes the historic limestone revetment, replaces it with concrete, and arranges non-functioning, ornamental limestone blocks in the parkland. (See attached.) This is emphatically not the legal, genuine preservation that the City now says it is committed to carrying out. CDOT and CPD’s public statements commit only to “repurposing”, “saving and reusing as much of the existing limestone as possible,” a commitment that by itself does not meet SOI standards. We are concerned that the City’s commitment goes only as far as to open up a loophole big enough for a fleet of concrete trucks.

In early April, the Conservancy will be releasing its own condition study of Promontory Point conducted by McLaren Engineering Group. Already completed in draft form, this study finds that the historic limestone revetment functions right now for adequate storm damage and shoreline protection. This study shows that all but a few dozen limestone blocks can be retained and repositioned. And if repaired and maintained, the historic limestone revetment has another 86- or more years of service

Although CDOT publicly states this project is “not even at square one, we’re at square zero”, CDOT has not only issued an RFP for the design study but is already negotiating a full-scope contract. CDOT has not explained why it quietly issued its RFP to prequalified firms in December by task order and selected a contractor with whom it is now negotiating a contract. CDOT had informed the Conservancy that the RFP would be posted on the City’s Procurement Services website: it is not there. They have also declined to answer for the design study’s sky-high $5 million price tag. The Chicago Corps costed a design study of Promontory Point at $450,000. The Conservancy hired its coastal engineers McLaren Engineering Group for a condition study, preservation design planning study and a cost-benefit analysis for $252,000.

We applaud the City and officials’ willingness to speak on the project, but the overall lack of transparency and communication to community members is disturbing. We look forward to further dialogue and the release of McLaren’s report, which we are confident will demonstrate viable alternatives for better preserving this local landmark.

For written inquiries please contact Promontory Point Conservancy at [email protected].

The City of Chicago is fully committed to the preservation of Promontory Point, which is designated as an official Chicago landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a beloved part of Chicago’s lakefront. The Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Park District, as partners alongside the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the implementation of the Chicago Shoreline Project, are committed to saving and reusing as much of the existing limestone as possible, as part of a rehabilitation effort that is consistent with the Secretary of Interior Standards for Historic Preservation to protect Promontory Point for future generations.

The project approach to Promontory Point has evolved significantly since what was contemplated twenty years ago.  The project partners are fully committed to preserving the Point’s historic nature while protecting it against erosion.

The City of Chicago’s 2023 capital bond allocated $5 million to fund the planning and design of the Promontory Point segment of the Shoreline Protection Project on behalf of their project partners, the Chicago Park District, as owners of the property, and the Army Corps of Engineers, federal partners in the Shoreline Project. The City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in December for the planning and design work and the procurement process is ongoing, including cost negotiations. We expect the contract to be finalized in the next few months. The awarding of this contract does not finalize any changes at the Point. 

The study will encompass a broad scope of work over the next few years, including planning, preliminary design, a public engagement process, and the creation of detailed construction drawings and specifications. An extensive public process will be a critical part of this project, providing a platform for community input and collaboration.

The Army Corps’ third-party review will complement the study by ensuring compliance with historic preservation and coastal storm risk reduction standards. Coupled together, this process will help ensure the project moves forward with a plan that preserves the limestone and historic character of this important segment of shoreline."
— Erica Schroeder, CDOT


Received from Marc Monaghan, Hyde Park Herald, [email protected]

This coming Friday, February 23, the Chicago Dept. of Transportation (CDOT) plans to sign the contract for the $5m design planning study of the Point and pave the way to demolition of the historic limestone revetment. If this goes through, it is the beginnning of the end of the Promontory Point we all love. Only Mayor Brandon Johnson and Alderman Desmon Yancy can stop this. They will act only if the community insists.

Here's what you can do. Two steps.

1. Cut and paste into the Office of the Mayor's form here. Select COMPLAINTS from the pull down menu.

CUT AND PASTE:
Dear Mayor Johnson:

I am writing to ask how the City (CDOT) can be selecting a contractor for a $5m design planning study of Promontory Point, Burnham Park, when the City faces serious budget shortfalls. The Chicago Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers costed this design study at $450,000. And Promontory Point Conservancy hired a large, national, well-respected coastal engineering firm to conduct its own preservation study of Promontory Point for $252,000. 

Where is the extra $4.5m going for this CDOT study?

CDOT will select its contractor this coming Friday, February 23. No one can reasonably endorse a grossly over-priced, over-engineered, overhaul of Promontory Point that ignores community input, the legitimate community preservation plan, the 24-year struggle to Save the Point! and the nearly unanimous community support for preservation.

Promontory Point Conservancy’s coastal engineers have completed a Condition Study of Promontory Point and are working on an Alternatives [to concrete] Design Plan for preservation. This Condition Study demonstrates that the historic, 86-year old limestone revetment functions right now, provides good storm damage and shoreline protection, and can be retained and repaired. Yes, the Army Corps and CDOT can destroy the revetment but they don’t have to. There are viable, cost-effective, preservation alternatives to concrete which provide strong storm damage and shoreline protection. A win-win for the City and the community.

I am asking that you bring a sense of scale and fiscal responsibility to this project for the City. Please use the power of the Office of Mayor to put a halt to this contract award immediately. Save the Point Again!

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME AND EMAIL
ORGANIZATION: SAVE THE POINT AGAIN!

2. Send Alderman Demon Yancy, 5th Ward, an email:

ADDRESSEES' EMAILS:
TO:  [email protected],[email protected]
CC: [email protected],[email protected]

CUT AND PASTE:
Dear Alderman Yancy:

I am writing to ask how the City (CDOT) can be selecting a contractor for a $5m design planning study of Promontory Point, Burnham Park, when the City faces serious budget shortfalls. The Chicago Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers costed this design study at $450,000. And Promontory Point Conservancy hired a large, national, well-respected coastal engineering firm to conduct its own preservation study of Promontory Point for $252,000. 

Where is the extra $4.5m going for this CDOT study?

CDOT will select its contractor this coming Friday, February 23. No one can reasonably endorse a grossly over-priced, over-engineered, overhaul of Promontory Point that ignores community input, the legitimate community preservation plan, the 24-year struggle to Save the Point! and the nearly unanimous community support for preservation.

Promontory Point Conservancy’s coastal engineers have completed a Condition Study of Promontory Point and are working on an Alternatives [to concrete] Design Plan for preservation. This Condition Study demonstrates that the historic, 86-year old limestone revetment functions right now, provides good storm damage and shoreline protection, and can be retained and repaired. Yes, the Army Corps and CDOT can destroy the revetment but they don’t have to. There are viable, cost-effective, preservation alternatives to concrete which provide strong storm damage and shoreline protection. A win-win for the City and the community.

I am asking that you bring a sense of scale and fiscal responsibility to this project for the City. Please use the power of your office to ask Mayor Johnson to halt this contract award immediately.  Save the Point Again!

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS]
 
OR MAKE A PHONE CALL:

• call 311 to leave your verbal message with the Office of the Mayor
• dial Alderman Yancy's office at 773.324.5555 and demand he act quickly

Promontory Point Conservancy received a leak from a very reliable source in the City last spring that CDOT had conducted an assessment that determined Promontory Point’s revetment had “failed”. We were urged to concede defeat and “compromise" to CDOT’s plans.

In the meantime, the Conservancy had hired its own coastal engineering firm -- McLaren Engineering Group -- to:

• determine the current condition of the revetment;
• review and update the community funded 2002, 2003 and 2004 marine engineering preservation studies;
• examine the feasibility of repairing the limestone revetment to meet contemporary storm damage protection standards;
• explore various preservation approaches to different sections and conditions; and,
• do a cost-benefits analysis

McLaren's full report will be completed in the fall.

At our request and having completed its site visits, the Conservancy's coastal engineers agreed to issue a letter refuting CDOT’s assessment of “failed".  McLaren Engineering Group concludes: 

"It is McLaren's professional assessment that the limestone revetment currently functions as the original design intended, is not in danger of collapse, and provides adequate shore protection. Further, it is our opinion that, with maintenance and repairs, the service life of the structure can be significantly extended, obviating the need for major demolition and replacement." 

Read McLaren's preliminary condition letter here.  

McLaren’s statement clearly demonstrates that the limestone revetment at the Point  has not “failed" and can be repaired and preserved. It shows beyond a doubt that the legitimate community preservation approach remains viable. 






​

Friends of the Parks presents this outstanding lecture on nature-based solutions to lakefront erosion and climate change challenges as part of their Netsch lecture series.

​

Good afternoon.  My name is Bronwyn Nichols Lodato, and I’m a member of the Board of Trustees of the Olmsted Network.  We are thrilled to be co-hosting the screening of Landscapes of Exclusion and the subsequent panel featuring Dr. William O’Brien, Mr. Arthur J. Clement and Dr. Wairimü Njambi.  Thank you to the National Building Museum, the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Library of American Landscape History for co-hosting today’s event.  Dede Petri, President and CEO of the Olmsted Network, sends her regards from the UK where she is tracking Frederick Law Olmsted’s steps.

Frederick Law Olmsted’s work with the first state park, Yosemite and Mariposa Big Tree Grove, fundamentally transformed American ideas about parks.

In the 1865 Yosemite report, commissioned by the State of California, Olmsted talked about the right of all Americans to scenic reservations. This was really the seed of the national and state park idea and an extension of the urban park idea he first developed in New York City and extended to many urban areas across the country, including Chicago, where I serve as President of the Midway Plaisance Advisory Council, Detroit, Milwaukee, Louisville, Seattle, and, yes, here in Washington D.C., to name a few.

In a nod to form serving function, Olmsted’s objectives with his state parks’ planning centered the need to repair the country’s national identity and civic culture that were in shambles after the Civil War. He also understood that state parks would be in need of protection from interests that ran counter to a higher ideal of public, democratic spaces. In writing the Yosemite report, Olmsted understood the “eternal base of equity and benevolence” that needed to undergird government protection of public parks. He stated in the Yosemite report:

"It is the main duty of government, if it is not the sole duty of government, to provide means of protection for all its citizens in the pursuit of happiness against the obstacles, otherwise insurmountable, which the selfishness of individuals or combinations of individuals is liable to interpose to that pursuit."

As O’Brien shares in his landmark book, the official and de facto adherence to the separate-but-equal doctrine borne of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision was sewn into the foundational soil of state parks in the Jim Crow South.  O’Brien thoroughly documents how state parks were separate but never equal and were used as weapons of suppression against African Americans by denying equal access that they were fully entitled to as citizens.   Accompanying this travesty was the intention to deny access to the sense of freedom, wonder and possibility that could be found in beautifully maintained state parks. Thankfully, this regime did not triumph, as African Americans fought to assert their rights to be seen and take up space in public parks.

We must not forget this history and remain vigilant.  Indeed, we face new challenges to equitable access to our public parks through privatization, “development”, and environmental injustices.  Olmsted was prescient when he stated:

"For the same reason that the water of rivers should be guarded against private appropriation and the use of it for the purpose of navigation and otherwise protected against obstruction, portions of natural scenery may therefore properly be guarded and cared for by government. To simply reserve them from monopoly by individuals, however, it will be obvious, is not all that is necessary. It is necessary that they should be laid open to the use of the body of the people."

Olmsted understood the power of public parks as critical infrastructure in a democratic society, and this idea is more important now than ever.  The Olmsted Network’s mission to advance Olmsted’s principles that parks and landscapes enrich people’s lives motivates our championing of inclusive park spaces that reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of our country. The Olmsted Network is proud to be a part of our collective efforts to ensure inclusion and equity in our public parks for years to come.

The Point in winter (and Jackson Park pre-construction) appears in the first 4 minutes of this lovely, musical video that moves up the Chicago lakefront south to north, Classical Music Aerial Adventure: Winter in Chicago, WFMT. March 2, 2023. (11:08 min) 

"It's a beaufiful day in the neighborhood for Promontory Point", Hyde Park Herald, March 10. 2023. Marc Monaghan covers the Landmark Commission's unanimous vote and sounds early alarms about the City's and Corps's newly funded projects for design planning and construction beginning at the Point. 

Chicago YIMBY features "Promontory Point in Hyde Park receives penultimate approval for landmark status" based on Preservation Chicago's recent coverage of Promontory Point. Preservation Chicago co-sponsored with the Conservancy the Point's City-landmarking nomination and was instrumental in seeing the nomination through the Commission. ​

After receiving 350 letters from Point lovers (YOU!), The Chicago Park District's Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to approve Chicago landmark protections for Promontory Point! As the property owner, the Park District was not required but was requested to give its permission for Promontory Point to move forward in the landmarking process. The vote today means that the Point is ever closer to becoming a Chicago City-landmark!

In a statement to the press, Promontory Point Conservancy President Jack Spicer said, "This is a tremendous moment for the community and for Alderman Hairston who have been fighting side by side for 23 years to protect and preserve the unique and historic limestone revetment at Promontory Point. We are now one step closer. From here on out, we need to be sure that the Chicago Park District, Chicago Department of Transportation and the Army Corps of Engineers follow the federal Secretary of the Interior Standards for preservation and that the Chicago Landmarks Commission follows its legal guidelines for historic preservation. This will ensure genuine preservation -- preservation, repair and restoration -- of the limestone revetment at Promontory Point. Park District Superintendent Rosa Escareno and the Board did the right thing at today’s meeting and are to be congratulated for listenting and responding to the strong voice of the community."

Other speakers on behalf of the Point included Ward Miller and Mary Lu Seidel of Preservation Chicago, Kendra Parzen of Landmarks Illinois, Gil Kilgore of Friends of the Parks, preservation historian Julia Bachrach and members of the community who attended the meeting. 

Illustration above: ​CDOT and SmithGroup's caption reads: "Promontory Point is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. The City is committed to protecting and preserving this cultural asset and taking a preservation-based approach to shoreline protection. The image below is from shoreline protection installed at Diversey Harbor which takes a similar preservation-based approach. The specific design details for rehabilitation of Promontory Point shoreline will be developed as part of [the Morgan Shoal Project]. The City of Chicago, through its partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers, has successfully built new revetments throughout Chicago including segments from 51st to 54th Street, 43rd to 45th Street, and 33rd to 37th Street." Obviously, the Conservancy, other preservationists and qualified marine engineering firms with preservation experience disagree with this assessment entirely.

Map above: Bundling Promontory Point in a single reach with Morgan Shoal and calling it one project allow CDOT and SmithGroup (CPD) to inflate and exaggerate erosion, storm damage conditions at Promontory Point. CDOT and CPD lump Promontory Point into the second phase of work of the Morgan Shoal Project. Construction has already been awarded to SmithGroup and its partners to begin construction at Morgan Shoal. It's not clear whether that contract includes Promontory Point too in the scope of work.

Dear Ms. Belcik, Chicago Command, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Please accept this comment for the NEPA review of the Chicago Coastal Storm Risk Management study.
 
The historical limestone revetments and related structures at Morgan Shoal, Promontory Point and La Rabida have done more than protect the Chicago shoreline from erosion and flooding. They also have served as a canvas for thousands of mostly anonymous Chicagoans who have carved portraits and other images, names, messages and more into the rocks for almost a century.
 
I have spent the last few decades documenting the carvings on the revetments all along the Chicago shoreline, researching their history, tracking down and interviewing carvers, conducting walking tours (including at Promontory Point), doing numerous public presentations on the carvings, and, in 2021, publishing a book on the subject (Lakefront Anonymous: Chicago’s Unknown Art Gallery).
 
Effectively, the carvings on these rocks represent a spontaneous social history of Chicago’s life along the lake as well as combining to form a collective work of art that has gone largely unrecognized but is striking once you start noticing the thousands of carvings lining the shore.
 
These urban petroglyphs start near the Indiana state line and continue north to Osterman Beach at Hollywood Avenue. I have photographed the more than 6,000 that survive; thousands more were destroyed during the Corps’ shoreline protection work in the first two decades of the 2000s, from north of Promontory Point to Montrose Harbor. Although several hundred rocks from the old revetments were saved, and thus a smattering of the carvings in those locations, most of the thousands of blocks and the artwork on them were lost.
 
That cavalier treatment, which I believe was partly based on general ignorance of the carvings’ existence and importance, must not be repeated. This aggregation of modern rock carvings concentrated along a major urban shoreline is, based on my research, not duplicated anywhere else in the world. And Morgan Shoal, Promontory Point and La Rabida are major contributors to this unique resource. They each host significant surviving concentrations of carvings – more than 1,000 along Morgan Shoal, close to 600 at La Rabida and more than 500 lining Promontory Point.
 
The Morgan Shoal carvings include the oldest ones documented, the first of them dated June 1930, as well as several figurative and typographical carvings of significant artistic merit. Behind La Rabida Hospital there is an exceptionally dense concentration of carvings, some of them rich with historical references. There is also a line of rocks bearing carvings on an old revetment/breakwater that now sits about 10 feet offshore south of La Rabida. And at Promontory Point are some of the most whimsical historical carvings as well as some of the newest, with more than 20 executed this year added to the hundreds already there dating to back to the 1930s.
 
All these carvings are at risk from any shoreline protection plan that does not include preservation of the historical limestone. And all are at continuing risk from storm and erosion damage. At all three locations important carvings have either already fallen into the lake along with their host rocks or are in the process of falling. 
 
So while it is important for the future of this art that shoreline rehabilitation proceed, it’s only hope of survival is that any rehabilitation retains as many of the limestone blocks as feasible, preferably in place, as opposed to sending them to the crusher or other dismal fates.
 
Retention of the limestone means different things at each location. Much of the revetment at Morgan Shoal is so decayed as to make preservation in place unworkable, so the best hope is that rocks bearing impactful carvings are identified and repurposed for seating or ornamental use. This was done to a limited extent along the Belmont Rocks north of Diversey Avenue, and to better effect at Fullerton Avenue, where the carvings were treated as an important feature worth saving and keeping visible in new configurations. Similarly, a number of blocks were saved in the Oakwood Beach vicinity and reused as seating and ornamental elements. At Morgan Shoal, in addition to the revetment features, there are rocks essentially installed as large paving stones adjacent to the 49th Street Beach House, flush with the ground and heavily carved. These also should be preserved in some form, either in place or nearby.
 
The rocks behind La Rabida hospital have suffered greatly in the last five years. Those nearest the lake are tumbling into the water (including one that hosts one of the finest of the lakefront carvings, a fully executed compass) and the rest show the ill effects of weather-driven shifts in the rocks. These rocks could be stabilized in place or repurposed nearby, as long as efforts necessary to preserve the carvings are undertaken. Similarly, the line of offshore rocks south of La Rabida should be surveyed for carvings and either preserved in place or relocated nearby. These rocks include one bearing one of the most unusual, masterful and historically interesting group of carvings to be found along the lake, made apparently by one hand between 1948 and 1953.
 
Of the three sites, Promontory Point is the one where the carvings, and the rocks that host them, can nearly all be preserved in place, per the plans formulated by the Promontory Point Conservancy. This allows the art to be seen as it was experienced and left by the artists and their friends over the decades since the Point was constructed in the 1930s. The carvings generally add to the historical character of the limestone revetments while also lining the Point with social history and artwork of substantial merit.
 
In all locations, for the carvings to be preserved, whether in place or nearby, their presence needs to be recognized and taken into account in the construction planning. This means inventorying the carvings, identifying the ones with sufficient merit to be preserved, and then taking great care when moving, resetting, or otherwise modifying their position. Even when efforts are made to save rocks with carvings, the process of moving them off their current location can result in their unintentional destruction, per the landscape architect on the Fullerton Avenue project. In addition, consideration of artistic merit needs to look beyond individual carvings to account for their impact in totality. While not every last carving may be worth preserving, some carvings grouped together become more than the sum of the parts.
 
Images and more information on the carvings are available at lakefrontanonymous.com and in my Lakefront Anonymous book – the first full-length study of the carvings, including their history as well as more than 200 images.
 
Thanks for the opportunity to comment on this important project.
 
William Swislow
[email protected]