OUR HISTORY OF SAVING PARKS
2008
April 16, 2008: A lawsuit is filed by Protect our Parks, Elizabeth F. Byrne, Mary Beth Meyer, and Dawn Dodge, against the Chicago Park District (CPD), the Latin School of Chicago, the City of Chicago, and various individuals affiliated with CPD and the City of Chicago.
The suit seeks a declaratory judgment regarding an agreement between the Park District and the private Latin School, which grants the School permission to fund and construct a soccer field in the “North Meadow of South Field” area of Lincoln Park in Chicago in exchange for the Latin School’s priority usage of that soccer field.
The complaint also seeks a temporary restraining order to halt construction of the soccer field until the case is fully adjudicated, alleging that the agreement violates the Lake Michigan and Chicago Lakefront Protection Ordinance (Chicago Municipal Code §16-4 (passed Oct. 24,1973), the Illinois Constitution, and the public trust doctrine.
Given that construction of the soccer field began the previous fall (see below) the field is about half-finished at the time of the lawsuit.
Chancery Division Chief Judge Dorothy Kinnaird grants POP’s request. She also allows construction of the artificial turf portion of the project to continue. POP later appeals that part of her decision. The Appellate Court agrees with Protect Our Parks and overrules Judge Kinnaird’s decision.
The case is settled on May 15, 2008 and as a result, the Park District voids the contract with the Latin School.
2007
A story is leaked that the Chicago Park District has entered into a secret deal with the private Latin School of Chicago, which borders the public Lincoln Park, to permit the Latin School to tear up a long existing natural grass field in the park that was being used for open public recreational activities and free play and turn it into a single-use artificial turf soccer field under the primary control of the Latin School.
Protect our Parks (POP) is created by a group of local residents who organize to prevent the proposed conversion of public park land in Lincoln Park for the private use of the Latin School.
November: Construction on the soccer field begins.