Title
REQUEST TO INITIATE 45-DAY NOTICE PERIOD TO NAME PARK NO. 601 AS DUNNING READ NATURAL AREA PARK
Body
To the Honorable Board of Commissioners of the Chicago Park District
I. Recommendation
It is recommended that an order be entered authorizing the General Superintendent their designee to initiate a 45-day notice period to solicit public input to name Park No. 601 as Dunning Read Natural Area Park.
Proposed Park or feature: Park No. 601
Location: 7000 West Irving Park Road
Community Area: Dunning Community Area
Ward: 38
Proposed Name: Dunning Read Natural Area Park
II. Explanation
The Chicago Park District assigns an official park number to every property. It is proposed that the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners initiate the 45-day notice period to solicit public input to name Park No. 601 as Dunning Read Natural Area Park. This proposal has the support of Alderman Nicholas Spasato, Illinois House Representative Lindsey LaPointe, Service Learning Coordinator of Wright College, Merry Mayer, and the Park Advisory Council, including numerous community members. The proposed name follows the criteria for naming a park that is detailed in the Code of the Park District, which states that there “shall be a general presumption in favor of names reflecting historical or physical features of neighborhoods[.]” (Chapter VII, Section E).
The proposed name Dunning Read Natural Area Park acknowledges the history of the site and its location. The land at Park 601 was once part of a vast expanse of prairie land. Starting around 1854, the area was home to a series of public infirmaries, almshouse, and mental hospital facilities. The adjacent property was owned, in the mid-1800s, by the Dunning family, and when the railroad extended a line to the area in 1882, the stop was named Dunning Station-and those existing facilities became locally (but unofficially) known as Dunning. The name Read was appended in 1970 after a merge with a nearby facility. After construction of the new state-operated Chicago Read Mental Health Center in 1970 on a portion of the area, the remaining land began to be reclaimed by nature.
In 2005, the State of Illinois formally protected the site, calling it the "Dunning Read Conservation Area." Management of the site for the purposes of native prairie, wetland, and savanna planting and restoration has continued since then. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources granted the Chicago Park District a conservation easement for the site in 2022.
Park No. 601 Natural Area, colloquially known as "Dunning Read Conservation Area" or "Dunning Read Natural Area," is a 20-acre park in the Dunning community in northwest Chicago. Comprising prairies, wetlands, and woodlands, the park has approximately one mile of mulch trails and two gathering spaces. The natural area is a popular location for birding and supports a vibrant community of native plants. An active cadre of volunteers support the maintenance conducted by the Park District.
III. Park Naming Procedures
Chapter VII, Section E of the Code of the Chicago Park District, (the Naming Ordinance), which governs the naming and renaming of parks and park features, states that if a proposed name honors a person, the (i) person shall have been deceased for a least one (1) year prior to consideration; and (ii) the person shall have demonstrated a continued commitment and made an extraordinary contribution to civic betterment, locally, nationally or internationally.
Pursuant to the Naming Ordinance, this request to rename and name parks have been forwarded to the Secretary of the Chicago Park District, who shall (i) file a copy of this request with the Board of Commissioners (or appropriate Committee); and (ii) initiate a notice period of at least 45 days to provide notice and solicit public input. Such notice shall be posted at the respective park fieldhouse (or for any park without a fieldhouse, at the nearest fieldhouse) and it shall be sent to advisory councils located within a one (1) mile radius of the subject park. At the conclusion of the notice period, the General Superintendent or their designee may in their discretion recommend to the Board that it approve the requested renames and names.