During our 2022 Parks as Democracy? Luncheon and Conference, we celebrated individuals and groups who do so much for Chicago's parks and park users. Click here to return to the full list of VIP (Volunteers-in-Parks) Awardees.
Park Advisory Council
Grant Park PAC
The current iteration of the Grant Park Advisory Council emerged after a struggle a few years ago with the Grant Park Conservancy to ensure that the PAC is a separate, publicly accessible entity. Ensuring public participation toward the best interests of one of the largest parks in Chicago, the PAC advocates for the balance between Grant Park as a major tourist attraction and the local park for downtown neighbors.
Often referred to as the city’s front lawn, Grant Park consists of more than 300 acres that span from Randolph to Roosevelt and from the lakeshore to Michigan Avenue with attractions that include the Art Institute, Buckingham Fountain, DuSable and Monroe Harbors, and the Lakefront Trail along with dozens of art pieces scattered throughout the park. This park was some of the earliest designated open space for which its most famous advocate, A. Montgomery Ward, fought for 30 years to keep it “Forever Open, Clear, and Free.”
The council takes the role of protecting our front lawn seriously. With the Lollapalooza contract renewal and the announcement of NASCAR race running through the park, this year the PAC has played an especially big role in advocacy, serving as a consistent check to ensure that local community voices and needs are not pushed to the side in the name of profit. Council members regularly testify at the park district meetings, and 2022 has seen a good number of media appearances as well, voicing concerns and holding the Park District and the mayor accountable for keeping Grant Park accessible and safe for all Chicagoans and visitors. And this year has included review of concerns related to the Grant Park Van Buren Metra Stop renovation planning process and the kick-off a new Grant Park Framework Plan Steering Committee process in which various Grant Park PAC members are involved. They also regularly checked in with members of the mayor’s Museum Campus Working Group to promote consideration of needs related to coordination and seamless connection between Grant Park and the Museum Campus in adjacent Burnham Park.
This is on top of regular activities like leveraging the significant resources of Grant Park area residents and other volunteers to pull off large Earth Day park clean-ups and advocating for more programming at Maggie Daley Park, to name a few. Thank you, Grant Park PAC, for fighting for Chicago’s front lawn for all of us!
Grant Park PAC
The current iteration of the Grant Park Advisory Council emerged after a struggle a few years ago with the Grant Park Conservancy to ensure that the PAC is a separate, publicly accessible entity. Ensuring public participation toward the best interests of one of the largest parks in Chicago, the PAC advocates for the balance between Grant Park as a major tourist attraction and the local park for downtown neighbors.
Often referred to as the city’s front lawn, Grant Park consists of more than 300 acres that span from Randolph to Roosevelt and from the lakeshore to Michigan Avenue with attractions that include the Art Institute, Buckingham Fountain, DuSable and Monroe Harbors, and the Lakefront Trail along with dozens of art pieces scattered throughout the park. This park was some of the earliest designated open space for which its most famous advocate, A. Montgomery Ward, fought for 30 years to keep it “Forever Open, Clear, and Free.”
The council takes the role of protecting our front lawn seriously. With the Lollapalooza contract renewal and the announcement of NASCAR race running through the park, this year the PAC has played an especially big role in advocacy, serving as a consistent check to ensure that local community voices and needs are not pushed to the side in the name of profit. Council members regularly testify at the park district meetings, and 2022 has seen a good number of media appearances as well, voicing concerns and holding the Park District and the mayor accountable for keeping Grant Park accessible and safe for all Chicagoans and visitors. And this year has included review of concerns related to the Grant Park Van Buren Metra Stop renovation planning process and the kick-off a new Grant Park Framework Plan Steering Committee process in which various Grant Park PAC members are involved. They also regularly checked in with members of the mayor’s Museum Campus Working Group to promote consideration of needs related to coordination and seamless connection between Grant Park and the Museum Campus in adjacent Burnham Park.
This is on top of regular activities like leveraging the significant resources of Grant Park area residents and other volunteers to pull off large Earth Day park clean-ups and advocating for more programming at Maggie Daley Park, to name a few. Thank you, Grant Park PAC, for fighting for Chicago’s front lawn for all of us!
