- Sun-Times Media
- Martin Luther King Jr. speaking at Soldier Field in 1966, the year he and his family took up residence in North Lawndale
If Chicago truly were a meritocracy—where planning decisions were based on an idea’s virtues as opposed to clout—Mayor Emanuel would be steering the Obama Presidential Library to North Lawndale.
So in the name of gaining a library, we lose some parkland.
Maybe that will convince a black voter or two—other than your faithful City Council factotums—to actually vote for you in the coming mayoral election.
In any event, the Mayor could use the library to fill one of the largest vacant lots in Chicago, while giving the surrounding community a much-needed jolt of jobs and investment.
Mayor Daley wanted to turn the parks into construction zones for his Olympic debacle, which the University of Chicago cheered on.
Under pressure from environmentalists at Friends of the Parks, Mayor Emanuel forced the university to reveal the Jackson Park and Washington Park locations.
