Morgan Shoal Framework Plan
Above: aerial view of Morgan Shoal from the 2015 Morgan Shoal Framework Plan
Morgan Shoal stands upon the Chicago lakefront from 45th Street to 51st Street, covering about 4,500 feet. At Morgan Shoal, the bedrock, found 90 feet below downtown Chicago, protrudes to the surface and is exposed. In July 1914, the Silver Spray passenger ship hit the Shoal and sank. The remains of the wreck can be seen from shore. Many South Siders have fond memories of Pebble Beach at Morgan Shoal. In 2014-2015, members of the community and the Chicago Park District held four meetings and developed together the Morgan Shoal Framework Plan.
Promontory Point Conservancy completely supports the Morgan Shoal Framework Plan. We are disturbed to learn that the Chicago Park District, CDOT and US Army Corps of Engineers are not moving ahead constructing this award-winning design but consider it only "aspirational" and appear to have hired a contractor for another design. The Framework Plan was an excellent, award-winning, community-based design process, even as the Chicago Park District and its consultant SmithGroup might have reached out more extensively into the Bronzeville community (Yes, members of this community use the South lakefront too.) to deepen and enrich community engagement about the Morgan Shoal's Framework Plan. Now it appears that the Framework Plan, whatever the breadth of its outreach, is irrelevant to what the community will get in unknown and undisclosed new construction.
Morgan Shoal stands upon the Chicago lakefront from 45th Street to 51st Street, covering about 4,500 feet. At Morgan Shoal, the bedrock, found 90 feet below downtown Chicago, protrudes to the surface and is exposed. In July 1914, the Silver Spray passenger ship hit the Shoal and sank. The remains of the wreck can be seen from shore. Many South Siders have fond memories of Pebble Beach at Morgan Shoal. In 2014-2015, members of the community and the Chicago Park District held four meetings and developed together the Morgan Shoal Framework Plan.
Promontory Point Conservancy completely supports the Morgan Shoal Framework Plan. We are disturbed to learn that the Chicago Park District, CDOT and US Army Corps of Engineers are not moving ahead constructing this award-winning design but consider it only "aspirational" and appear to have hired a contractor for another design. The Framework Plan was an excellent, award-winning, community-based design process, even as the Chicago Park District and its consultant SmithGroup might have reached out more extensively into the Bronzeville community (Yes, members of this community use the South lakefront too.) to deepen and enrich community engagement about the Morgan Shoal's Framework Plan. Now it appears that the Framework Plan, whatever the breadth of its outreach, is irrelevant to what the community will get in unknown and undisclosed new construction.
- Chicago Park District capital projects (Scroll down and select Morgan Shoal Revetment Construction)
- Morgan Shoal Framework Plan, March 2015: https://assets.chicagoparkdistrict.com/s3fs-public/documents/page/Burnham_Park_-_Morgan_Shoal_Framework_Plan_%28Final%29.pdf
- Information session for Morgan Shoal Project, presentation May 18, 2021 recording. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq2li__VUlw
- CDOT and Chicago Park District slideshow to PBC regarding construction at Morgan Shoal, May 18, 2021: https://assets.chicagoparkdistrict.com/s3fs-public/documents/page/Burnham_Park_-_Morgan_Shoal_Framework_Plan_%28Final%29.pdf
- Building commission picks architect and engineer for Morgan Shoal redesign. Hyde Park Herald Evening Digest. October 7, 2021. https://www.hpherald.com/evening_digest/building-commission-picks-architect-and-engineer-for-morgan-shoal-redesign/article_fc8eab46-27b3-11ec-97bd-ab76d2f9aaab.html
- City of Chicago’s 2021 Five Year Capital Plan: General Obligation Bond Booklet, showing capital plans for Morgan Shoal Project including Promontory Point on pp. 2-3 and p. 24: https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/obm/supp_info/2021Budget/2021-2022%20Bond%20Booklet.pdf
- Building Commission initiates major Morgan Shoal reconstruction project. Marc Monaghan. Evening Digest. Hyde Park Herald. June 4, 2021: https://www.hpherald.com/evening_digest/building-commission-initiates-major-morgan-shoal-reconstruction-project/article_6da43816-c574-11eb-b9e8-9b7d99166745.html
- CDOT BRIC Pre-Application (FOIA) for Morgan Shoal Project, September 30, 2020.
- 2018 South Lakefront Framework Plan. https://assets.chicagoparkdistrict.com/s3fs-public/documents/page/
- An endangered piece of history beneath Lake Michigan's surface: the shipwreak of the Silver Spray has rested a stone's throw from the Hyde Park shoreline for nearly 100 years. Reader. Julia Thiel. February 23, 2013. https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/an-endangered-piece-of-history-beneath-lake-michigans-surface/