Blog Posts

Press kit, May 26, 2022

5/25/2022

This press conference will be held at the Experimental Station, 6100 South Blackstone Avenue, Chicago. The event will start promptly at 4:00pm, run one hour and will be recorded.

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Point named top spot to visit in City

5/18/2022

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Conservancy solves May Day emergency flooding at tunnel

5/18/2022

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At least one local politician in favor of preservation at Promontory Point was approached by the City (CDOT)/Chicago Park District (CPD) and asked if the community would support new limestone at the Point. Say what?!?

The limestone at the Point is 400 million years old* and probably will last another 400 million years.

We don’t need new limestone.

We need the limestone reset and re-grouted. We need the wooden cribs replaced with steel ones.

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Data Point: tree inventory this summer

4/25/2022

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UHigh Midway press on fight to Save the Point Again!

4/25/2022

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Great press in UHigh Midway from University of Chicago Lab School journalist Adrianna Nehme: Fight to Save Promontory Point Reinvigorated After Demolition and Construction Proposed, April 6, 2022.

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He got the Point

4/2/2022

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Landscape architect Johann Friedl captures the serenity of the Point and the clatter of the concrete alternative in this stunning video...

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Hairston's got the Point -- fiercely

4/2/2022

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Photo: Nancy Hays courtesy of the Hyde Park Historical Society

Calling Promontory Point one of our most beloved treasures, Alderman Leslie Hairston spoke powerfully for preservation at the Point at her 5th Ward meeting on March 22. She condemned the City's "locally preferred plan" of demolition of the limestone and called for repair and rehabilitation in a preservation approach. She went on to note her more than 20 years of work with the community to Save the Point and her advocacy of City-landmarking to stop demolition of the limestone revetment.

Hairston also called out the City for its recent "trick" of requesting federal funding by running around U.S. Congresswoman Robin Kelly, who supports repair of the limestone, to U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush to assure funding of its "locally preferred plan". (Promontory Point is actually in Kelly's district, not Rush's.) Fortunately, Rep. Rush learned the truth and took no action. And the City, Park District and Chicago US Army Corps' duplicity and bad faith were exposed. Hairston cited this as further evidence of the lack of transparency in the City Administration and its failure to listen to the voice of the people.

The City and the Park District intend to replace -- rather than repair the historic limestone revetment -- with the "locally preferred plan" of demolition and new construction of concrete. Hairston and Kelly are also joined by IL Senator Robert Peters who has expressed support for perservation.

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Destination Point: A Preservation Approach

3/3/2022

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Vanishing Point: the City's "locally preferred plan"

3/2/2022

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FAQs: The Point, 2022

2/8/2022

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Photograph by Nancy Campbell Hays, courtesy of the Hyde Park Historical Society.

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The Conservancy's Parallel Process

12/15/2021

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Photo of Promontory Point from the south: David Schalliol

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Strong support for the Point's limestone revetment

12/15/2021

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Between a rock and a hard place

12/14/2021

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Photo credit: David Schalliol

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Get the Point in your holiday stocking

11/16/2021

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Photo credit: Timothy Murphy. Promontory Point after storms 24-25 October 2021

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Third Year Running, No Park Supervisor for the Point

11/12/2021

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The Conservancy's work day 31 October 2021.

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Just why does the City prefer concrete?

11/8/2021

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Updated: Nov 16, 2021

The Guardian has a series about the environmental and economic hazards of concrete. The City (CDOT) and the Chicago Park District continue to advocate for the “locally preferred plan” of concrete and steel for Morgan Shoal and Promontory Point. The environmental hazards of concrete only add to the many other objections to replacing the 83-year old limestone revetment with new construction of concrete. The 2015 Morgan Shoal Framework Plan repurposed the historic limestone blocks in a step-stone revetment and a sloped walkway to the water. The City seems to have abandoned this portion of the Framework Plan in preference for concrete.

This while the City’s concrete lakefront appears to be eroding at half life on the North and South Sides. If it’s eroding this bad at mid-age, what major erosion to the City’s concrete revetment will happen in another 10-20 years?

Just why are the City and Park District pushing concrete at Morgan Shoal and Promontory Point when there's so many other, better and more creative alternatives?

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Art on the Revetment

11/4/2021

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Chicago's Wilderness

10/27/2021

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Ald. Hairston endorses Chicago landmarking of the Point!

10/3/2021

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That's the Point: latest updates and news

9/30/2021

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The Point recommended a Chicago Landmark

9/23/2021

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Many thanks to all of you who wrote letters of support for the recommendation of Promontory Point for Chicago landmarking. We had a tremendous outpouring of support from all over the City. The Commission on Chicago Landmarks posted on its website the written public comments they received, and, wow, there are 90 pages of comments submitted in favor of landmarking the Point!! Read them here--they start on page 33: https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/zlup/Historic_Preservation/Agendas/Program_Committee_Public_Comments_22SEP2021.pdf

In September 2017, the National Register nomination of Promontory Point came before the Commission on Chicago Landmarks and passed unanimously before it went to Springfield and finally Washington DC for final approval and listing on January 19, 2018. The Point, however, was never approved as a Chicago Landmark so Preservation Chicago and the Conservancy are recommending Chicago landmarking of the Point too.

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