Chicago City Council Zoning Committee OKs museum move to Grant Park

The City Council Zoning Committee approved the controversial plan to relocate the Chicago Children's Museum from Navy Pier to Grant Park in a 6-3 vote Thursday afternoon.

The proposal still has to be voted on by the entire City Council.

The vote followed nearly six hours of sometimes contentious testimony by opponents and proponents in packed council chambers.

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), whose ward includes Grant Park, was greeted like a rock star with a flood of cheering applause when he entered the chamber. Reilly has continuously rallied for support against the museum proposal, in defiance of Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Committee Chairman Ald. William J. P. Banks (36th) swiftly set ground rules for conduct and testimony length, threatening to eject people for outbursts or any speaker who exceeded the three-minute time limit or reiterated points already addressed. The previous hearing on May 16 lasted nine hours.

"Let me now say, that, our procedure today will be to limit testimony," Banks said.

Ted Novak, zoning lawyer for the museum, defended the move.

"This is a light-filled, open, interactive museum for all sorts of children and families," he said, pointing to five enlarged images of the proposal. "The existing museum on Navy Pier is about 4,000 square feet of glass. This new proposed museum integrated into this location [Grant Park] is actually 11,000 square feet.

"Part of our job as architects is to make that Chicago experience," said Novack, adding "Every child that walks into this building will be given... [a] framed image of the city."

Addressing the opposition, Novack said "This is a classic case of ‘not in my backyard,'" which was met by jeers from the crowd.

But during his testimony, Ald. Reilly responded, "A private institution taking public land for its own purposes - that's what we call a ‘land grab.'"

Jennifer Farrington, the president and CEO of the museum, who was not in attendance, has said in previous public hearings that "No other location met our four requirements: A central downtown location, easy access to public transportation from all corners of the city, access to green space, and plentiful adjacent covered parking."

Some community members -- young and old -- voiced support of the move, including two students, who said that they were from "the inner-city."

Members of the Save Grant Park organization sat together wearing yellow t-shirts with green capital letters spelling out: Save Grant Park. Parents in the organization brought along their children, also sporting the t-shirts.

Towards the end of the hearing, the yellow shirts resettled in seats closer to the center of the audience, clumping together, anxiously awaiting a turn at speaking.

"It truly is a historic vote, and there will be consequences to how aldermen vote," said Jonathan Fine, president of Preservation Chicago.