Board hears presentation on the Park District’s Clean and Green efforts in advance of Earth Day
Today, the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners met for its regular monthly meeting held at Park District headquarters at 4830 S. Western Avenue in Brighton Park. The Board approved the District’s request to initiate the 45-day public notice period to name a park feature in the Washington Park community and name Park 514 in the Humboldt Park community.
The Board voted to begin the process to name the unnamed playground at 53rd Street and King Drive, within Washington Park, the Ronald “Ronnieman” Johnson Playground. The proposed name honors Johnson, a beloved member of the community whose extraordinary contributions led to civic betterment, including posthumous contributions made in his name through advocacy and charitable efforts.
Following the tragic shooting in 2014 that ended Johnson’s life, his mother Ms. Dorothy Holmes launched the RonnieMan Foundation and hosts annual toy, winter clothing, and back-to-school drives in the Washington Park neighborhood. She also organizes annual Easter giveaways near 53rd Street and King Drive, and has helped maintain a food box nearby. Through the foundation, Mr. Johnson has impacted the lives of hundreds of young people by providing donations, advocacy, celebrations, and healing.
The Board approved the District’s request to initiate the 45-day public notice period to name Park #514 in honor of Sister Patricia Fillenwarth, who was a Sister of Providence and ministered to the people of the Humboldt Park community for forty-two years. Among her many accomplishments and contributions to the community, most notably, she opened Providence Family Services, a center providing bilingual family counseling.
Over time, Sister Patty expanded the center’s offerings to include an after-school tutoring program for children, adult English language classes, computer literacy classes for adults and children, and citizenship classes. Providence Family Services was an anchor in the community that welcomed all regardless of faith, race, or socioeconomic status. During its twenty-four (24) year history, Providence Family Services served nearly 10,000 people. Parks naming and renaming information is available here.
The Board also voted to authorize a change order to extend the target market agreement with DuSable Park Design Alliance for the development of DuSable Park. The extension will allow the contractor adequate time to provide construction administration services through the duration of the project. The contractor’s responsibilities include construction drawings, technical specs, permits, site reviews and final sign-off upon project completion. The not-to-exceed amount of the change order is $387,021.00. MBE/WBE participation for this contract is 48% MBE and 26% WBE, exceeding the Park District compliance goals.
The highly anticipated DuSable Park is named in honor of Chicago’s first non-native settler, Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable. The 3.3-acre park, located east of Lake Shore Drive, is currently under construction.
In honor of Earth Month, the Chicago Park District highlighted the 298 full-time and 372 seasonal employees that contribute to keeping parks clean and green all year long. Our field staff is divided into four units- landscape, forestry, natural areas, and floral teams- each with a specific focus. The landscape team oversees the most duties, including cutting grass, trimming weeds, maintaining our sports fields, clearing snow, and grooming our beaches. The forestry team maintains the 250,000 trees in our urban forest, and the natural areas crews care for nearly 2,000 acres citywide, while our floral team brings 250 gardens to life. The presentation concluded with a video spotlighting the workforce that support the Park District’s sustainability efforts. That video is available here. Residents were also encouraged to volunteer to register for the upcoming Earth Day clean-up events happening from April 11-18. Over the course of the week, more than 1,000 volunteers will be beautifying over 180 Chicago parks citywide! Information is available at chicagoparkdistrict.com/earth-day.