By Ben Joravsky
Designed by landscape architect Alfred Caldwell, the Point stretches east from 55th–a long promenade of grass, trees, and plants rimmed by limestone blocks that allow people to wade or jump into the water. “The beauty of the Point is not just the trees and the meadow–it’s the water access,” says Clement. “You can launch little boats from the rocks. You can dive or wade in and take a swim. You can just sit on a rock and dangle your feet in the water.”
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The residents told Park District officials they’d seen some of the lakefront fortification projects that are under way–such as the one at Waveland–and they didn’t want anything similar at the Point. “We didn’t want the big slabs of concrete,” says Clement. “We didn’t want them to construct a concrete wall against the lake. We let the Park District know at that early meeting how important the Point is–how upset people would be if they were to seriously change it.”
“They made no concessions–none,” says Clement. “It was excruciating to sit through. It was horrible.”
The January 31 issue of the Hyde Park Herald blasted the Park District with a full-page editorial headlined “Parks people are missing the Point.” It also ran an editorial that said, “Residents regard the park district with some suspicion; a suspicion that is historically justified–witness the decades-long battle over the unequal distribution of resources between the North and South Sides….Lack of trust is compounded by the park district’s characteristic aloofness, illustrated by the habit of sending officials who cannot answer questions to community meetings like the one held this month on the Point.” Indeed, the Park District regularly sends only a few low-level officials to such meetings, people who are nice and attentive but have little authority.
As the residents see it, Park District officials were either grossly ignorant of the value of the Point to the south side or they didn’t care. “I suspect that they just screwed up,” says Jack Spicer, a Hyde Park resident. “They just went with the army corps’ one-size-fits-all scheme. It has nothing to do with preserving the Point or accommodating park users or anything like that. This is just how the army corps does its developments–and the city went along.”
Hairston has already made her plea to Daley, inviting him to walk with her around the Point. So far Daley hasn’t taken up her offer, though he did send an aide to visit the site. Hairston, Clement, Rossi, a few other residents, and the aide hiked about in the rain on April 6. “The aide was very sympathetic,” says Clement. “He promised to take our message to Mayor Daley.”
