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HYDE PARK — Neighbors’ efforts to preserve Promontory Point by reinforcing the lakefront park while keeping its landmarked limestone steps recently got a boost from the Illinois Senate.

The chamber unanimously passed a resolution during its veto session last month to “support the legitimate community preservation plan for Promontory Point,” as federal and city agencies work to strengthen the lakefront park against wave and storm damage.

The Promontory Point Conservancy, a community group working to preserve the site’s historic features, will release design options for repairs next month, treasurer Debra Hammond said. The nonprofit released a study in April which found the Point’s iconic limestone is still protecting the lakefront and can be preserved.

Senate resolutions are nonbinding, so the resolution does not force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Park District to use the conservancy’s designs. But the resolution’s passage “goes to show that there’s political power” behind the community-led effort, said Illinois Sen. Robert Peters, a Hyde Park native whose district includes the Point. Peters introduced the resolution in April.

The community has “come up with a very intentional preservation plan,” Peters told Block Club. “Obviously they need to be engaged and a part of this conversation. [The renovation project] can’t just be something that’s top-down.”

Spokespeople for the Army Corps and transportation department did not comment on the Senate resolution, but said they will review the conservancy’s designs as they plan the Point repairs.

“The project partners have consistently and publicly expressed our commitment to saving and reusing as much of the Point’s existing limestone as possible,” transportation department spokesperson Erica Schroeder said.

The agencies are “confident” that they’ll land on a design that will follow federal standards, reduce storm damage and “be acceptable to the community,” Army Corps spokesperson Michael Padilla said.

Spokespeople for the Park District did not respond to requests for comment.

The city committed $5 million to design Promontory Point’s reinforcements in 2023. The transportation department has chosen engineering firm WSP to lead that design process, Schroeder confirmed this week.

The Army Corps and the city are working with preservation agencies and local stakeholders like the conservancy to determine the project’s scope, Schroeder said. Their next meeting is planned for early 2025 as the parties work to hash out an agreement.

WSP will officially be contracted once a project agreement is reached, Schroeder said. The city and the Army Corps will then discuss how to incorporate the conservancy’s work into the official project plans, Padilla said.

Children enjoy the warm weather and play in the waves lapping the shore at Promontory Point in Hyde Park on April 26, 2021. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

Conservancy members will unveil their design plans Jan. 14 alongside studies that found the proposed designs can withstand “tsunami wave energy,” Hammond said.

“We’re able to demonstrate with our own coastal engineering studies that what we’re proposing is feasible,” she said. “We’re not just saying we want this pie-in-the-sky kind of thing.”

The design proposals and studies were funded by nearly $300,000 in community donations, as well as more than $130,000 in grants from local preservation groups, Hammond said.

The conservancy will hold six public meetings early next year to gather feedback on its designs:

• 10 a.m. Jan. 22 in Hyde Park at The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave.
• 6:30 p.m. Feb. 6 in Woodlawn at the Experimental Station, 6100 S. Blackstone Ave.
• 6:30 p.m. Feb. 18 in Kenwood at Ancona School, 4770 S. Dorchester Ave.
• 6:30 p.m. March 6 in Hyde Park at Vista Homes, 5840 S Stony Island Ave.
• 6:30 p.m. March 19 in Hyde Park at the University of Chicago Community Meeting Room, 6021 S. Kimbark Ave.
• 7:30 p.m. April 8 on Zoom

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December 6, 2024 at 09:40AM