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| Tug of war hits South Shore: Residents fight plan for islands in lake | |
| Mar 4, 2007 | |
| Noreen S. Ahmed-Ulla, staff reporter nahmed@tribune.com | |
| Chicago Tribune | |
| Pertains to Lakefront Path, Chicago | |
| Bob Mican remembers cool lunchtime swims just outside his front door, after sweltering shifts at the nearby USX steel plant. His son, Rob Mican, recalls beating traffic to the Indiana dunes by taking a powerboat. For three generations, the Micans have lived in this quiet enclave tucked along the city's South Shore. A few doors down from them is Lake Michigan, a central part of many family memories, a steadying fixture in the landscape. And now the lake is the reason why the Micans are bristling at a suggestion that private lakefronts between 71st and 75th Streets be outflanked by public islands built into the lake. This South Shore neighborhood was laid out as a tony suburban community after the Great Chicago Fire and was home to the Stevens family, which built the Stevens Hotel, now known as the Chicago Hilton, and the founder of the exclusive South Shore Country Club. But white families began fleeing north and to the suburbs during the second half of the last century and the area became more rundown and overlooked. The Micans stuck it out though. They knew that this lakefront treasure one day would recapture the spotlight. In recent years new families--white and black--have rediscovered the neighborhood and are now investing in properties. Three flats just west of South Shore Drive are being converted into condos, as buyers seek out one of the last affordable stretches of privately owned lakefront. But, the possibilities along South Shore have also captured the imagination of Friends of the Parks. In its effort to complete public access to the lakeshore, the park advocacy group recently floated an ambitious proposal that calls for this stretch of lakeshore to be remade with an offshore archipelago connected by bridges. The proposal calls for building parkland islands into the lake from 71st to 75th Streets, allowing the lakefront bike path to skirt the private land of South Shore and continue south. Residents such as the Micans say the islands would create a lagoon at their doorstep, replacing the lake with a pond. The ensuing loss of wave action will leave the water choked with weeds. The water, they say, would become unclean for swimming, too shallow for boats. The quiet streets would be flooded with traffic. And what of the vistas of the lake stretching out to a never-ending horizon? "There would be no view," said Bob Mican, 77, whose back kitchen window looks onto the lake. "The lake effectively would be moved 700 feet from where we are." Friends of the Parks tried to put together the proposal in time for the centennial anniversary of Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago, which advocated an entirely public lakefront. The proposal currently has no funding or political backing, but supporters hoped beginning a discussion eventually would lead to adding the last four miles to the city's public lakefront. So the group focused first on the south end of the city. They met with community members, most of them near the USX steel mill. The plan called for several measures, but since it was unveiled earlier this year the proposed islands have drawn the most outrage. Wave of opposition A meeting to present the plan last fall overflowed with neighborhood residents, some of whom booed the idea. Opponents include those who live in fewer than a dozen homes just south of the South Shore Cultural Center and east of South Shore Drive, as well as those who live in condos and co-ops south of there. Some are prominent Chicagoans such as U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, Sandi Jackson, the recently elected alderman of the 7th Ward. Others are middle class families who moved here for private access to the lake and for prices much more affordable than North Side neighborhoods such as Rogers Park and Edgewater. Condo resident Tim Bartkiewicz has lived in the area for most of his life. After 10 years in Lincoln Park, he moved here more than six years ago, purchasing his three-bedroom condo for $75,000--a bargain compared with the North Side. "You can see the lake from every window in my house except the kitchen," he said. "It's lovely." One of the community's key organizers against the island proposal, he says people don't like the idea because it will destroy the beaches. "By putting up islands, it's going to change the dynamic of the shoreline," Bartkiewicz said. "It won't be the pristine beach it is now." Some residents first moved to the area as renters, falling in love with the lakefront and eventually buying homes and condos. Others spotted the area from their sailboats. Kathleen Campbell and her husband first saw the property they purchased while sailing. When they heard through their yacht club that a house was for sale, they jumped at the chance and purchased a home that backs up to the lake. They still live about a mile away in Jackson Park Highlands, but the South Shore property is their summer home. Campbell said new islands are the last thing the community needs. Bus shelters and better schools are more important. "I know they have to do something with the Burnham legacy, but in this day and age, this is quite frivolous," she said. "I don't see it making a huge difference to the population down here." Bob Mican's father had first purchased a prairie-style home, built by an associate of Frank Lloyd Wright, on the 2500 block of East 72nd Place in 1941. His father had been a supervisor at the USX site. After a short period away, Bob returned to the neighborhood in 1967 when a house next to his father's was for sale. By then, African-Americans had begun moving into the neighborhood, said Charles Celander, author of "Chicago's South Shore." Through the 1970s the area experienced white flight, said Joy Bivins, curator at the Chicago History Museum. By 1980, the area had become 95 percent African-American, she said. The Micans were one of the few white families remaining. "It is so beautiful here," the elder Mican said. "We never even considered moving." Today, he and his wife live in his father's house, and son, Rob, 41, lives with his family next door, in Bob's old home. Rob's children spend summer days swimming in the lake. Friendly neighbors allow them access to the area's private beaches. The children look for rocks, adding to their extensive collection. They find the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore soothing. But, says Rob, all that will be lost if the islands are built. Jesse Jackson Jr. said he supports adding public access to the lakefront but is unhappy about community residents not being approached. He said he's surprised Friends of the Parks never discussed the proposal with him, even though he helped secure funds for many shoreline restoration projects along the coastline. "Many of my neighbors made investments in a community that had long been ignored," Jackson said. "Now, there is greater interest in the area ... but to move plans forward, you need to take into account the interests of the community." Sit-down planned Officials from Friends of the Parks plan to meet with the congressman this month. For now, the group has added an alternative to its proposal: Do nothing. The park advocates will continue to exhibit and lead discussions about their proposal at the Chicago Architecture Foundation and South Shore Cultural Center. Friends of the Parks is having engineers study its proposal. President Erma Tranter said the group would do nothing to harm the lake or the beaches. She said she hopes to eventually convince residents that the islands will increase the community's property values. "We don't want to leave a gap there," Tranter said. "The lakefront belongs to the whole city, now and for future generations." The Micans may not own lakefront property. But they've lived so close to the lake for so long that they have always felt like this bend belonged to them and their neighbors. Rob recalled an evening a few months back when he saw the lake reflecting the full moon as he walked home from the train station. "It was like this huge glowing ball, and the small waves back and forth were reflecting the moonlight," he said. "It was like a painting come to life. If this proposal goes through, I won't have that." |
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