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. A...
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