Projects

Address

401 N. Lake Shore Dr.
Chicago,IL60611
United States

Community Area

Near North Side

Project Description

DuSable Park is a 3.44-acre park located east of Lake Shore Drive at the confluence of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. After decades of remaining vacant land, the site is now in design for upcoming park development.  

The park site is located upon an area of lake fill that was home to various industrial uses beginning in the late 1800s.  The site was established as a park as part of the Chicago Dock and Canal Trust Planned Development, and in 1987 Mayor Harold Washington dedicated and named the site in honor of Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, the first non-native American settler and founder of Chicago. In 1988, a quitclaim of 3.44 acres for DuSable Park was deeded to the Chicago Park District.  

In the years that followed the park’s dedication and transfer into Park District ownership, several advancements and some setbacks in the site’s planning and development as a public park have occurred. In 2006, the Park District worked with local stakeholders to develop the DuSable Park Framework Plan.  The Framework Plan lays out a vision for the park including interpretive and recreation elements such as a Founder’s Plaza, an observatory, a promenade, a lakefront boardwalk, an outdoor classroom, a boat drop-off, and educational and art components. The 2006 Framework Plans serves as a strong foundation for the new park development.

Also important to the park site, in 1993, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discovered soil contamination including thorium at the site. In 2017, following a legal settlement with previous land owners, the EPA awarded $6.8 Million to the Chicago Park Distirict for environmental clean-up which was subsequently completed in 2021.

With funding now identified, design for upcoming park development is now underway. The park is positioned as both a critical piece of Chicago's public lakefront and the endcap to Chicago’s Riverwalk.  

Per the Framework Plan, the Chicago Park District's goals in creating DuSable Park are to:

1.  Honor and celebrate Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable's contributions to Chicago and to educate the public accordingly.
2. Recognize the unique confluence of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan by creating a passive, visible and accessible park.
3. Attract the local community, citywide residents, and tourists to the park.
4. Create a park design that has evolved from the input of the Chicago Park District and the DuSable Park Steering Committee.
5. Incorporate art and storytelling into the park that celebrates the life and legacy of DuSable

Because this is such a historically important project at a premier lakefront site happening at a pivotal time in the City’s history, the Park District chose to solicit a designer for the project through a public, “target market” Request for Proposals process.  A diverse, world-class design team was selected, composed of Ross Barney Architecture and Brook Architecture. Design of DuSable Park is currently underway, based on the recommendations of the 2006 DuSable Park Framework Plan and an ongoing community feedback process.