News
A letter from our Executive Director:
Dear friend of the parks,
As increasingly impactful hurricanes hit our shores and climate scientists warn of looming crisis across the globe, tending to Mother Earth has never been so important. Immediate action by those of us who already get it is critical. And raising up and connecting with the next generations of environmental stewards is urgent!
That is why your continued investment to ensure Friends of the Parks’ Earth Day continues to thrive is more important than ever.
Even as we continue to grow and refine our advocacy work—which many of you told us during our strategic planning process is our most important niche—we continue to be grounded in the fundamental action of stewarding the earth. For many friends of the parks, cleaning up a beach or tending to a community garden or learning how to mulch a tree on Earth Day is the entry point that connects them to a lifetime of advocacy for green spaces and blue spaces in Chicago and across our planet.
That’s why we are evoking Earth Day as we ask you to re-up your investment in Friends of the Parks with a 2019 Early Bird membership. We are already planning for next year’s FOTP Earth Day Clean-Up and Celebration six months from now—April 27—which happens to be its 30th anniversary! And we really need your help in order to make the most of it.
As you will read in the Summer / Fall Newsletter (linked below), Earth Day is so much more than a one-day event. We are so honored that you have entrusted us over the years with this convening role that is a jumping off point for so much other work on behalf of our parks. And now we are asking you to dig deep to help us build a much stronger infrastructure to continue to fight for our collective future on this Earth.
With gratitude,
Juanita Irizarry
Executive Director
Here are a selection of relevant newsletters, news articles, and editorials about issues in or related to parks. For each section, the most recent articles are on the top (and the oldest articles are on the bottom).
Dear friend of the parks,
As increasingly impactful hurricanes hit our shores and climate scientists warn of looming crisis across the globe, tending to Mother Earth has never been so important. Immediate action by those of us who already get it is critical. And raising up and connecting with the next generations of environmental stewards is urgent!
That is why your continued investment to ensure Friends of the Parks’ Earth Day continues to thrive is more important than ever.
Even as we continue to grow and refine our advocacy work—which many of you told us during our strategic planning process is our most important niche—we continue to be grounded in the fundamental action of stewarding the earth. For many friends of the parks, cleaning up a beach or tending to a community garden or learning how to mulch a tree on Earth Day is the entry point that connects them to a lifetime of advocacy for green spaces and blue spaces in Chicago and across our planet.
That’s why we are evoking Earth Day as we ask you to re-up your investment in Friends of the Parks with a 2019 Early Bird membership. We are already planning for next year’s FOTP Earth Day Clean-Up and Celebration six months from now—April 27—which happens to be its 30th anniversary! And we really need your help in order to make the most of it.
As you will read in the Summer / Fall Newsletter (linked below), Earth Day is so much more than a one-day event. We are so honored that you have entrusted us over the years with this convening role that is a jumping off point for so much other work on behalf of our parks. And now we are asking you to dig deep to help us build a much stronger infrastructure to continue to fight for our collective future on this Earth.
- Your investment at a higher membership level will help ensure appropriate staffing for our 30th Anniversary Earth Day efforts.
- Your investment at a higher membership level will help us expand our youth environmental education programming to neighborhoods that most need it and must be integral parts of the battle against climate change.
- Your investment at a higher membership level will help us spread the message far and wide that caring for parks is not just some esoteric exercise. That green spaces are critical to the health of Chicago—to mitigating the urban heat island effect, to helping to manage stormwater, to providing for the flora and fauna that are necessary for life on this planet.
With gratitude,
Juanita Irizarry
Executive Director
Here are a selection of relevant newsletters, news articles, and editorials about issues in or related to parks. For each section, the most recent articles are on the top (and the oldest articles are on the bottom).
Friends of the Parks’ Newsletters
Obama Presidential Center & Jackson Park
Friends of the Parks’ Press Releases:
- Press Release: Friends of the Parks Statement Upon the Passage by City Council of the Obama Presidential Center Ordinance, October 31, 2018
- Press Release: Statement on behalf of FOTP on OPC Court Case, October 24, 2018
- Press Release Friends of the Parks press release OPC Midway parking garage October 2017
- Press Release: Statement of Friends of the Parks on Obama Presidential Center Model Unveiling – 5/3/2017
- Press Release: Excited for the Library to come to Chicago, but Disappointed it will be on Park Property – 5/12/2015
- Hyde Park Herald: Obama Foundation presents modified OPC design plan
- Curbed Chicago: Obama Foundation will build its own parking garage for presidential center
- DNAInfo: Obama Foundation Revises Plan, Will Build Presidential Center Garage Itself
- Hyde Park Herald: Obama Library CBA Coalition hosts Forum in South Shore
- Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: Southside golf course plan full of holes
- CBS Local: Head Of Friends Of The Park Thinks Obama Library Plans Are Moving Too Quickly For Input
- Crain’s Opinion: Redefine Lake Shore Drive? Here are some questions. Big ones.
- Chicago Reader: What We Know About the Future of Jackson Park
- Chicago Sun-Times: Debate over South Shore Nature Sanctuary heats up
- Chicago Tribune: Will Tiger Woods golf course displace South Shore Nature Sanctuary?
- Hyde Park Herald: Residents show up in large number for Jackson, South Shore parks meeting
- Chicago Tribune: Obama center’s landscape architect plans playground and performance lawn
- Mike Nowak Show: The Obama Library: Baby Steps for Transparency
- DNAInfo: Public Meetings On Obama Library, South Shore Golf Course Start Wednesday
- Southside Weekly: Greener Pastures: What the history of Jackson Park tells us about its uncertain future
- Curbed Chicago: Obama Foundation: Presidential center’s economic impact could be worth billions
- Chicago Now: Obama library site still a disappointment
- Chicago Tribune: Obamas unveil design of presidential center in Chicago
- Chicago Tribune: In Jackson Park, private money begins to reshape a public jewel
- DNAInfo: Obama Library May Threaten Parks’ Historic Place Status, Activists Worry
- Arch Paper: How the Obama Library and wHY’s Plan Will Revive Chicago’s Jackson Park
- Editorial: Taking Parkland for Presidential Library is not the Only Choice – 2/12/2015
- Chicago Tribune Editorial: Obama must veto Chicago parkland for legacy library
North Branch Industrial Corridor
Media Hits:
- DNAInfo: 15-Acre Park Must Be Part Of North Branch Corridor, Petition Demands
- Our Urban Times: Is the North Branch Industrial Corridor Ordinance another done deal?: What’s the rush? What is this? Who cares?
- DNAInfo: In Rush To Help North Branch Developers, City Ignoring Community: Neighbors
- Chicago Sun-Times: Massive Chicago redevelopment plan better make room for parks
- DNAInfo: New Parks A Must For North Branch Corridor, Aldermen, Community Groups Say
Last Four Miles Initiative
Media Hits:
DuSable Park
Friends of the Parks’ Press Releases:
- Press Release: On the heels of planned remediation of DuSable Park, Coalition holds celebration of Chicago’s founder, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable
- Press Release: Event to Honor Founder of Chicago – 9/2/2015
- Chicago Curbed: The long-delayed plan to rehab Chicago’s DuSable Park creeps forward: The City of Chicago has authorized a further cleanup of the lakefront peninsula’s contaminated soil
- Chicago Tribune: Park District signs contract for oft-delayed cleanup of DuSable Park on lakefront
- WTTW: Why a Historic Daniel Burnham Building Sits Empty on Chicago’s South Side – 3/7/2016
- NY Times: Tribute to Chicago Icon and Enigma – 2003
Festival Framework
Media Hits:
Rails to Trails
Media Hits:
Other Advocacy
Media Hits:
- Red Line Extension Could Run Through Parks Along Route
- Big Marsh Is a Hit With Local Cyclists, But It’s Still Challenging to Bike There
- Sun Times: South Side Residents Left Out of Park Decisions
- Hyde Park Herald: Bixler Playlot Frequenters Still Dissatisfied with Chicago Park District
- Salon: Shaping the Urban Brain: In Building Cities, Concern about Well-Being Can’t Take Backseat to Growth
Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
Friends of the Parks’ Press Releases:
- Press Release: Lucas Museum Departure Statement – 6/24/2016
- Press Release: Friends of the Parks Achieves Further Discovery Schedule – 2/17/2016
- Press Release: Friends of the Parks Prepares to File Statement Against City – 11/10/2015
- Press Release: Friends of the Parks Challenge of Lucas Museum Location Proceeds to Court – 3/12/2015|
