Comments ( 23 )

• OF COURSE King Richie backs the kids museum plan; probably will net lots of money for the city via parking fees, admissions, etc., right? That he (or anyone) should inject the “race card” into this is disgusting. I can’t imagine any parent of any ethnic group being willing to drive into the Loop, park the car at some extortionate price, take the kids to an underground facility (yuck!), pay for some overpriced concessions, then try to beat the rush-hour traffic home. Or take/send the kids to the place via CTA, which presents its own difficulties and dangers.

  Come on…there are plenty of “centrally located” parks and empty spaces, easily accessible to public transportation and relatively hassle-free driving and parking, that could support an above-ground, sun-filled destination for kids of all backgrounds and neighborhoods to visit easily and regularly.

  (Something along the lines of the Nature Museum in Lincoln Park, maybe, but in a different location?)

• This is shaping up to be an interesting little spat between da boss and da NIMBY-poodle.

  By the way, that post in Hyde Park Progress was excellent.

• Will the alderman of the 42nd ward support anything? When is he up for re-election? WHAT A NIMBY!!

• I think Reilly and Fioretti are competing to see how many projects they can oppose. Each of them has a chalkboard at home and they’re keeping score. After all, that’s how they guage progress in their wards–by NOT BUILDING ANYTHING.

  Look to former Alderman Dorothy Tillman–one who was extremely successful in this. Her ward should be a model for the rest of the city. Perhaps a certain PDNA NIMBY named Jeff should move down there–he’d certainly be pleased to find that nobody is planning a highrise near his house anytime soon!

• I won’t repost here what I did to the NIMBY posters at another site but you can check it out here.

  Make no small plans and abide no opposition from those with small minds.

  http://thecapitolfaxblog.com/2007/09/18/morning-shorts-328/

• It’s after midnight, and we are officially embarked on International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Carpe diem.

• Thanks Joe. I just watched “Chicago Tonight” which I taped earlier. Seems Da Mare went all Pirate on Brendan Reilly and his supporters. Basically called those who oppose the Grant Park location for the museum racist and anti children. Reilly was interviewed on the program and seemed a bit take aback. I don’t think the opposition is racist or anti children, but watching what is about to happen to Reilly will prove amusing.

  The corruption and cronyism in local governments in this area is sickening, but when I think of the disaster that empowered alderbeasts would create I can see some benefits in a semi benevolent “da Mare”. Hamilton and Madison were right in “The Federalist Papers” when they asserted the need for checks and balances and that the level of government most likely to be abusive was that closest to the people. The alderbeasts prove that.

  The adage should now read “Make no small(in courage or vision) Aldermen.”

• Hey Urban Politician – tough to take people like you seriously when you hide behind your computer screen, you send your gay private messages anonomously on SSC, and you call my home…

  Edited – no name-calling, please.

• Did God just bless us with the last few warm days because He decided to take a few degrees off the temperature of the Other Place and transfer them elsewhere? I mean, it’s not actually a Freezover…BUT…Wow…a Chicago Alderman actually found his…uh…SPINE! The Little Boy Brendan actually told Da Emperor that his Children’s Crusade was a pretty transparent garment, intent on cloaking yet another vast patronage scheme with dubious good effects for the city as a whole.
  And now the fun really begins…

• irishpirate, we have seen it all, when this Mayor pulls out the race card; talk about irony!

  Your comments where some the same sentiments echoed during the last Alderman elections claiming that the “Machine” was going to turn it on and reclaim the incumbant seats. Did not happen, and in fact got worse. Behind the scenes of struggles like this, you can bet that many of these Alderman will be building their chip stack that ‘Da Mayor’ will be needing in the Olympic discussion. He may in fact win the battle on this issue, but by resorting to these tactics, he is opening himself up for a boomerang to the head!

• Can some one answer…who owns and who operates the parking garages at Monroe & Grant? Is the city or operator required to maintain or make repairs to the structure, etc.?

• The worst thing about this Children’s Museum debate is that is is not even that great of an operation or even sound architecture. It certainly has it’s place, but it is a Target version of Disney compared to other cities. What ever happened to taking your kid to the park to enjoy physical exercise, fresh air, and nature. What is wrong with our existing classical museums? It’s not like children are not already overstimulated by TV, IPODS, etc.?

• Just follow the money, Jeff…fresh air and exercise don’t produce revenue for the big boys in the form of parking fees, admissions, sales tax on souvenir purchases, etc…

• Jeff,

  If you have to ask what’s wrong with our existing museums you haven’t been to them.

  The Historical Society, Art Institute, Field Museum and Science and Industry are a truly awful experience for most kids. Parts of the Shedd are only marginally better.

• Yea local realtor all that tax revenue is bad. All that nasty money being spent downtown. All those “huddled masses” experiencing the Glory that is downtown Chicago.

  Jeff, or should I say Jeffro Bodine, the races the machine lost were due to unique circumstances. Natarus and Matlak were jokes in fast changing wards who ran against well organized candidates. Beavers got beaten by a JACKSON. Fioretti won because of changing demographics. Tillman lost because she was nutz and changing demographics. Troutman was under indictment, although I wouldn’t call her the machine candidate.

  Reilly is about to get schooled in the power of the clout. He may truly believe that Grant Park is a bad location for the museum. Maybe he is just responding to his NIMBY constituents. It doesn’t ultimately matter. Da Mare has pieces of guys like Reilly in his stool. At worst it may give Daley some indigestion.

  I’ll bring him some TUMS. It is times like this that I appreciate Daley’s VISION. It may be flawed, it may be corrupt, sometimes it is flat out wrong, but at least it exists. That is better than I can say for the 42nd Ward alderbeast.

  Point out the aldermen who will support Reilly over Daley. Aldermanic prerogative or not Daley can get 25 aldermen to support anything he wants.

• But, I.P., there are neighborhoods that could greatly benefit from the presence of a Children’s Museum in their vicinity…why does all the revenue have to go downtown and stay downtown?

• Local Realtor,

  synergy with the rest of the park. Transportation. Anyone in the metropolitan area can relatively easily take Metra or the CTA downtown. They can’t as easily get to outlying neighborhoods.

  If you think putting the museum in an outlying neighborhood would benefit the museum or neighborhood I don’t think it would. If you put it in Garfield Park are restaurants around the park going to see an influx of business? At best people would DRIVE there and DRIVE out.

  Downtown they may make a day of it and spend some more time and lovely money.

  As a kid I used to take the train downtown and walk over to the now “Museum Campus”. I couldn’t do that easily with an outlying museum. I don’t ever recall going to the Museum of Science and Industry without family or on an organized trip.

  The whole idea that the city should forsake downtown for the “neighborhoods” is well meaning, but wrong. Downtown should be seen as everyones neighborhood.

  Outlying neigborhoods can be improved by placing police stations, libraries, colleges and government offices around. Part of the development in Bronzeville can be attributed to moving Police HQ from 11th and State to 35th Street. IIT was talking about moving to the suburbs. Not anymore.

  Some things need to be centralized and in areas easy to get to and perceived as safe. Museums are one of them.

• Oh the flaws ip….”Some things need to be centralized and in areas easy to get to and perceived as safe. Museums are one of them.”…So we are now considering the Children’s Museum a Museum? It is an activity center…The closest thing is a Dave & Busters meets Chucky cheeses that doesn’t serve alcohol, which aren’t always bad if that is your desire.

  And Joe,
  “If you have to ask what’s wrong with our existing museums you haven’t been to them.

  The Historical Society, Art Institute, Field Museum and Science and Industry are a truly awful experience for most kids. Parts of the Shedd are only marginally better.”

  I have regularly visited the Chicago museums my whole life, and probably 2-3 per month in the last 17 years. As well, I have been fortunate to frequent many other museums all over the world. Chicago has opportunities, but hands down, the Chicago collection is some of the best for all ages and demographics. And from taking my own children and 15 nieces & nephews, I can tell you the least memorable is the Children’s Museum (except for the water exhibit and the climbing rope tree).
  Active learning like Children’s is necessary, but lets be real and not call it a Museum.

• Maybe we should call it “The Jeff”. After all you apparently learned little in your misspent youth and now want to continue the tradition.

  It’s a Museum. It may not be a traditonal stodgy museum with boring exhibits but toddlers love the place as do their slightly older siblings. Just because kids may like it doesn’t make it an interactive McDonalds.

  The same can be said for the Nature Museum. The exhibit they had there a few years back on nasty smells was a young boys dream. The girls loved the butterfly area. Although they weren’t thrilled to be “landed on” by the flying bugs.

  There is a two part goal in relocating the Museum to Grant Park.

  1. Increase attendance and the size of the museum. Mostly accomplished with the money of the filthy rich.

  2. Improve the whole experience of Grant/Millennium Park and get more people downtown.

  If you want the museum to go somewhere else that’s great. Take out your checkbook. I’d say ten million would be a nice downpayment.

• “There is a two part goal in relocating the Museum to Grant Park.

  1. Increase attendance and the size of the museum. Mostly accomplished with the money of the filthy rich.

  2. Improve the whole experience of Grant/Millennium Park and get more people downtown”

  I just don’t get Daley’s behavior over a Dave & Busters center on steriods. I could care less where the ‘fun center’ is located, but let’s at least have all the facts, disclosure, and renderings. Is that tough to request?

  Let’s not make it out to be a noble thing to benefit residents and vistors. You have the filthy rich (who buy the way get land for no cost with taxpayer assistance), and you have the cronies who are driving this and ride the coat-tails behind the scenes. This is about positioning behind the scene players for better deals, contracts, investment returns…did we not learn anything from the Millenium park experience? As an auditor who reviewed the post mortum of that effort told me, ‘those are some of the most aggregious agreements’ she has ever seen.

  Kudos to the donors, but do not think their will be no return on that investment. The main beneficiary would be the folks with their digs in the garages, likely to the tune of $5-$10MM per year, assuming just 15-25% of the visitors park there. And do not think that on the back end, there is not some play for the next great “disneyfication project” to CCM’s Navy Pier space. As well, If the maintenance issue of the garage roof is so bad as they claim, why are the operators not fixing it? Oh, right, here is a way for the city to fund it.

  Just give us the facts, not trumped up racial, “look over there”, routine. This is not the time for Daley to start acting like a buffoon. I can’t wait for the Daley Olympic exeperience; free Dave and Buster / Target spirit shirts for everyone!

• Jeff,

  To get to $10M in parking revenue, you’d need to have 500,000 paying parkers at $20 a pop.

  500,000 is, I’m guessing, more than the number of total carloads of visitors the museum would draw.

  In my book, your take on the attractiveness of Chicago’s museums for children is about as good as your math.

  And, in gratitude to The Donald for gracing Chicago’s skyline, I think we should all stop using “trumped up” in a negative fashion.

• Don’t recall me using the term “trumped up”. Meant to say $2-$3M based on ($15-$20 fee); a logical expectation also would be to also draw money into Millenium concessions, etc.

  Of course my opinion is my opinion, however I am not sure Joe where I personally insulted you in the course of hearing your opinion.

• Didn’t mean to insult, Jeff. Sorry it came off that way.

  Check your last paragraph for “trumped up.”