Burnham Park (Chicago)

Infobox park
park=Burnham Park


image size=250px
caption=Northerly View of Burnham Park
from Promontory Point (05/28/06)
type=Municipal
location=Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
coordinates=coord|41|50|7|N|87|36|26|W|
size=598 acres (2.4 km²)
opened=1920
operator=Chicago Park District
annual visitors=
status=Open all year

Burnham Park is a public park in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The six mile (9.66 km) long 598 acre (2.4 km²) park is composed of Chicago Park District property that connects Grant Park to Jackson Park (14th St. to 56th St.) along the Lake Michigan lakefront.cite web|url=http://www.bauerlatozastudio.com/udp-proj1.shtm|title=BauerLatoza Update|accessdate=March 13|accessyear=2007] Graf, John, "Chicago's Parks" Arcadia Publishing, 2000, p. 63., ISBN 0-7385-0716-4.] It was named for urban planner and architect Daniel Burnham in 1927. Burnham was one of the designers of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Businessman A. Montgomery Ward felt that Chicago needed to have a publicly accessible, "forever open, clear and free" lakefront lest the city descend into the squalor typical of American cities of the time, with buildings and heavy industry destroying any chance for beauty. To this day the city's lakefront is open from the former city limits at Hollywood down to the steel mills near Rainbow Beach.

History

In the mid-1890s, architect Daniel H. Burnham began planning a park and boulevard that would link Jackson Park with downtown. As Chief of Construction for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, Burnham was known for developing the White City. After the fair, Burnham began designing a more functional Chicago. Burnham's plan, including a lakefront park with a series of islands, boating harbor, beaches, and playfields was published in his 1909 Plan of Chicago.cite web|url=http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/parks.detail/object_id/64E17E20-2CD6-4C0B-92CA-8DBA811B8CA3.cfm|title=Chicago Park District|accessdate=March 13|accessyear=2007]

1860-1890

Paul Cornell donated and built East End Park between 51st and 53rd Streets in 1856. [ in 1992. In years following his donation, expansions were built at the northeast corner of future Jackson Park, south end of Burnham. The most notable expansions included a seawall and granite paved strolling beach constructed from 1884 to 1888 and a building used as the Iowa Pavilion during the Columbian Exposition.cite web|url=http://www.hydepark.org/parks/burnham/burnhamtimeline.htm|title=Burnham Park Timeline|accessdate=March 13|accessyear=2007]

Cornell lobbied for the establishment of a park and boulevard system. The first bond vote was rejected in 1867 as a method to provide a driving area for rich citizens and to lure people to move away for the benefit of real estate speculators and developers. In 1869, the bills are passed by the legislature.

In 1869, the South Park Commission is formed, with support from landholder and developer Paul Cornell. The future site primarily was near Lake Michigan or adjoining the Illinois Central Railroad right of way. In 1892, the formerly trestled railroad was raised on an embankment along present west edge of the park. South Park was developed with Jackson Park, The Midway's and Washington's designs (by Frederick Olmsted and Calvert Vaux) focusing on lagoons and navigation from the Lake to South Park (now King) Dr. and 55th Street in addition to development of a driving park horse and buggy paths along the lake north to downtown. By the 1880s the development included the Kenwood and Bowen communities, and by the 1890s immigrant neighborhoods were developing. The city limits were expanded from 39th to 130th in 1889, absorbing virtually all of Hyde Park Township (35th to 138th).

1890-1910

The Columbian Exposition was held in Jackson Park, leaving housing in Hyde Park built for the Fair. In the area around the new University of Chicago allowed real estate developers an opportunity to profit during the depression of the mid-1890s. As part of Jackson Park's transformation, South Park Commission President James E. Ellsworth asked Burnham to design a boulevard linking Jackson and Grant parks. Ruling out residential expansion, Burnham developed plans for green areas, harbors and lagoons, water scenery, a canal to downtown, and a scenic drive. With a theme of a "playground for the people", the area was planned to include bridges, beaches with pavilions and bathing houses. In 1896, Burnham began marketing the plan to Marshall Field, George Pullman, Philip Armour, and business organizations. In 1901, the Chicago Commercial Club began promoting the ideas and in 1909 published the Plan of Chicago by Burnham and Edward H. Bennett and illustrated by Jules Guerin. From 1907 until 1920, legal battles to acquire parkland continued despite the 1907 Legislature passing a bill with language favoring railroads until courts rejected the legislation.cite web|url=http://www.hydepark.org/parks/burnham/burnhamtimeline.htm|title=Burnham Park Timeline|accessdate=March 13|accessyear=2007]

1910-1920

The South Park Commission received rights to the future site of the Field Museum in exchange for 160 acres (0.65 km²) transferred to the Illinois Central railroad. Government agencies had to agree to plans including the Cook County Circuit Court, General Assembly, Chicago Plan Commission, and U.S. Secretary of War. In 1912, Burnham died and a new Chicago Plan Commission was created. In 1919, landfill efforts began at the north end of the park. In February 1920, voters approved a $20 million bond issue as part of the Burnham Plan initiative for new lands to complete Grant Park so as to create the "South Shore Development. In 1920 the Field Museum was opened, with the exhibits moved from Jackson Park into the basement By 1925, new landforms including Northerly Island, the only offshore landform in the Burnham Plan actually built, [McClendon, Dennis, "Encyclopedia of Chicago", "Chicago's Lakefront Landfill," p. 866, 2004, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-31015-9] was completed to 23rd Street.cite web|url=http://www.hydepark.org/parks/burnham/burnhamtimeline.htm|title=Burnham Park Timeline|accessdate=March 13|accessyear=2007]

1920-1930

A $2.5 million bond issue passed in 1922 for a stadium conceived by Burnham. Designed by architects Holabird & Roche and named Soldier Field for veterans of World War I, cost overruns required another bond issue in 1926. By 1924, the breakwater wall stretched from 14th to 55th Streets. In 1926, Soldier field and a portion of Lake Shore Drive were opened. Landfilling extended from 23rd Street to 56th Street but Promontory Point was not complete, prompting complaints regarding garbage, blowing sand and odors. Through the 1920s and 1930s, landfill efforts continued to fill in Burnham Park and adjacent Northerly Island.cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/877.html|author=McClendon, Dennis|accessdate=March 14|accessyear=2007|date=2005|publisher=Chicago Historical Society|title=Near South Side|work=The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago] The south development was named for Daniel Burnham on January 14, 1927 and support increased for a world's fair in the park. Construction was completed on Lake Shore Drive, with northbound lanes named for Leif Erikson, and southbound lanes for Christopher Columbus. In 1929, construction of the park at Promontory Point began. The Great Depression delayed work and prevented construction of nearshore islands. Burnham Park was chosen for site of the Century of Progress world's fair and a yacht basin was built south of 51st Street.cite web|url=http://www.hydepark.org/parks/burnham/burnhamtimeline.htm|title=Burnham Park Timeline|accessdate=March 13|accessyear=2007]

1930s-1940s

In 1933 and 1934, the Century of Progress International Exposition was held in Burnham Park. In the mid-1930s, the Chicago Park District used funds from the federal Works Progress Administration to complete landfill operations and implement landscaping at Promontory Point by renowned designer Alfred Caldwell, a professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In 1935, Mayor Edward Joseph Kelly explored the idea of a permanent fair in the park. The state passed a bill creating the Metropolitan Fair and Exposition Authority and allowed construction of Meigs Field after Northerly Island lost out as the site for the United Nations. In 1948, Burnham Park hosted the Railroad Fair, proving the location's viability for conventions, which eventually led to the construction of the first McCormick Place in 1960. The original McCormick Place burned down in 1967, and despite opposition, a new facility opened in Burnham Park in 1971.cite web|url=http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/parks.detail/object_id/64e17e20-2cd6-4c0b-92ca-8dba811b8ca3.cfm|title=Burnham Park History|accessdate=March 14|accessyear=2007]

Balbo monument

A highlight of the fair was Italian aviator and prominent fascist Italo Balbo leading 24 flying boats in landing on Lake Michigan after a transatlantic flight from Rome. Balbo's squadron left Italy on June 30, 1933 and arrived on July 15 after making several short stops. To honor his journey, 7th Street was renamed to Balbo Drive. As a return gift, Benito Mussolini later sent a 2nd century Roman column, which was erected in front of the Italian pavilion during the Century of Progress.cite web|url=http://www.gapersblock.com/airbags/archives/italo_balbo_and_chicagos_forgotten_gift_from_fascist_italy/|title=GapersBlock Update|accessdate=March 15|accessyear=2007] Located near the lakefront bike trail east of Soldier Field, the monument is one of the few relics remaining from the fair. The column is from a portico near the Porta Marina of Ostia Antica and stands on a marble base with inscriptions in both Italian and English reading:

"This column, twenty centuries old, was erected on the beach of Ostia, the port of Imperial Rome, to watch over the fortunes and victories of the Roman triremes. Fascist Italy, with the sponsorship of Benito Mussolini, presents to Chicago a symbol and memorial in honor of the Atlantic Squadron led by Balbo, which with Roman daring, flew across the ocean in the 11th year of the Fascist era."

Burnham Park today

The Museum Campus (which includes the Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum) was annexed to Grant Park from Burnham Park in the late 1990s. Burnham's 598 acres (2.4 km²) still contains Soldier Field and Chicago's premier convention center, McCormick Place-on-the-Lake, which hosts more than four million people per year.cite web|url=http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Transportation/lsd/history.html|title=South Lake Shore Drive History|accessdate=March 14|accessyear=2007] The Chicago Park District also operates an all-concrete skatepark just South of 31st Street Beach's Chicago Park District Beachhouse.cite web|url=http://www.switchmagazine.com/skateparks/ilburnhampark.html|title=Switch Magazine|accessdate=March 13|accessyear=2007]

Morgan Shoal

In conjunction with Harza Engineering, BauerLatoza Studio designed a nature area within a portion of the Park between 45th and 51st Streets featuring the shallow bedrock in an area known as Morgan Shoal. The $42 million expansion will increase parkland by 30 acres (0.121 km²) filling Lake Michigan.cite web|url=http://www.bauerlatozastudio.com/ld-proj6.shtm|title=BauerLatoza|accessdate=March 13|accessyear=2007]

Location

McFetridge Drive is the boundary between Grant Park and Burnham Park.cite web |url=http://www.archfilms.com/tour/garden/7.html|title=ArchFilms |accessdate=March 14|accessyear=2007] Beginning with Northerly Island and 14th Street Beach, and enclosing Burnham Harbor and its public marina, the park runs in a narrow strip past Soldier Field and McCormick Place, both of which disrupt Burnham's original plan, south to 56th street. The park lies mostly between Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan, but crosses the drive and abuts the Illinois Central Railroad tracks in places. There is a beach at 31st Street, a skate park at 34th Street, a stone beach at 49th Street, and a model boat pond at 51st Street in Hyde Park. The park ends with a flourish at Promontory Point at 55th Street. Footbridges and underpasses provide access to the park over the barriers of the train tracks and Lake Shore Drive. A marked six mile (10 km) bicycle path and jogging path runs the length of the park.

ee also

*Parks of Chicago

Notes