Title
REQUEST TO INITIATE 45-DAY NOTICE PERIOD
TO NAME PARK NO. 517 AS INTERFAITH 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 or his designee to initiate a 45-day notice period to solicit public input to name Park No. 517 as Interfaith Park.
Proposed Park or feature: Park No. 517
Location: 5914-5924 North Sheridan Road
Community Area: Edgewater
Ward: 48
Proposed Name: Interfaith Park
II. Explanation
Park No. 517
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. 517 as Interfaith Park. This proposal has the support of local residents.
Proposed Name: Interfaith Park
Park 517 is a 0.65-acre property in the Edgewater Community Area of Chicago. It is situated diagonally from Emanuel Congregation, a Reform Judaism synagogue that has been in its present location since 1954. A long-serving rabbi, Herman Schaalman, and his wife, Lotte, were well-known in the community as well as both academic and religious circles for their work fostering interfaith dialogue and cooperation. They worked with people of all backgrounds, religions, identities, and walks of life in a commitment to inclusivity, and sought to bring people together with fairness and justice. Their leadership has been keenly influential in the Edgewater community’s actions to help refugees, the mentally ill, and the hungry poor. It is in recognition of the lasting influence of the Schaalmans and the commitment of the community that it is proposed to name Park 517 as Interfaith Park.
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.