Ceremony in Memory of Chicago’s Founder Jean Baptiste Point DuSable and DuSable Park Site Tour

Chicago, Illinois (August 25, 2015): Ceremony in Memory of Chicago’s Founder Jean Baptiste Point DuSable and DuSable Park Site Tour

On September 2, 2015 – The DuSable Park Coalition will host a memorial ceremony at Pioneer Court, 401 North Michigan Avenue, from 11am - 12pm honoring Chicago's first non-native settler Jean Baptiste Point DuSable. There will be a wreath laying and public celebration of the 197th anniversary of DuSable’s death at the bust of DuSable. At noon, the group will depart and walk over to 401 North Lake Shore Drive for the DuSable Park site tour. 

A DuSable Park Coalition Committee has representatives from several local organizations including the DuSable Heritage Association, Streeterville Organization of Active Residents (SOAR), Friends of DuSable, Bronzeville Children’s Museum, Friends of the Parks, and the American Indian Center. The group has relaunched its efforts to galvanize support for and to encourage the Chicago Park District to move ahead with construction of DuSable Park.

DuSable Park, a 3.5-acre lot on the north side of the junction of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, is a "ghost park" in the sense that it is hidden in plain sight. Unfortunately, the park has laid dormant despite the fact that the late Mayor Harold Washington dedicated DuSable Park over twentyseven years ago to honor the Haitian man who is the founding father of Chicago. DuSable Park has yet to make any significant progress on its construction while other parks such as Millennium Park, Maggie Daley Park, and the 606 have opened in the near three decades since the initial DuSable park dedication. The park that bears the name of Chicago’s founder remains undeveloped and unbudgeted. The continued lack of attention and commitment on the part of the Chicago Park District to this particular project is deeply unsettling.

See the link below to the petition calling for action at DuSable Park. http://chn.ge/1IdhQ4S