Title
REQUEST TO INITIATE 45-DAY NOTICE PERIOD TO NAME THE MONTROSE DUNES EXPANSION AREA IN LINCOLN PARK AS THE MONTY AND ROSE WILDLIFE HABITAT
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 or his designee to initiate a 45-day notice period to solicit public input to name the Montrose Dunes Expansion Area as the Monty and Rose Wildlife Habitat.
Proposed Park or feature: Montrose Dunes Expansion Area in Lincoln Park
Location: near the eastern edge of Montrose Beach
Community Area: Lincoln Park
Ward: 46
Proposed Name: Monty and Rose Wildlife Habitat
II. Explanation
The Chicago Park District naming and renaming procedures allow for the naming of features in parks, including playgrounds and buildings. Tamima Itani, Lead Volunteer Coordinator for the Chicago Piping Plovers, requested that the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners name the Montrose Dunes Expansion Area in Lincoln Park as the Monty and Rose Wildlife Habitat. This proposal has the support of the Chicago Audubon Society, the Illinois Ornithological Society, the Chicago Ornithological Society, and the community.
Montrose Beach Dunes was originally formed by landfill and has since been shaped by natural processes. In 2001, the Chicago Park District stopped grooming the area to encourage dune formation. As a result, the site now contains beach, foredune, and globally rare panne habitat, which support numerous state threatened or endangered plant species. In 2005, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources added Montrose Beach Dunes to the statewide list of high-quality natural areas known as the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI). In 2021, the area was expanded with an additional 3.1 acres, which support valued wildlife, plants and the interests of nature enthusiasts. The additional acreage comprises an open sand area that shorebirds, including the federally-endangered Great Lakes Piping Plovers, use to forage and nest during their time in Chicago.
When the two chicks Monty and Rose (named after Montrose) fledged at Montrose Beach in 2019, they were the first two Piping Plover chicks to fledge in Chicago and Cook County in 71 years. Monty and Rose used the area extensively to nest and feed their chicks; they defended it from Killdeer and gulls to retain territorial rights of the area. They captured the hearts of people across Chicago, our nation, and even outside the US. Their story was portrayed in scores of local and national newspaper articles. The chicks they fledged in 2020 and 2021 were named to reflect Chicago’s roots, history, and environmental justice activism: Hazel, Esperanza and Nish in 2020, and Imani and Siewka in 2021. Two documentaries and two children’s books retell their stories. Sadly, Monty and Rose passed away in 2022, but thanks to their presence at Montrose, scores of people were introduced to the joy of birding and to the importance of bird and habitat conservation.
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 subject park field house (or for any park without a field house, at the nearest field house) 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 his designee may in his discretion recommend to the Board that it approve the requested renames and names.