Chicago Park District decision to move Skinner dog park met with criticism
November 6, 2009
By Dolly Duplantier
The Chicago Park District (CPD) board on Oct. 14 approved a site for Skinner Park’s long awaited dog friendly area. Located at the southeast corner of Monroe and Laflin Streets, the dog park will occupy half of what currently is a staff parking lot for Whitney Young High School. The neighborhood has been working toward the dog park for almost ten years, yet some still are not satisfied with the size or location.
May Toy has lived near Skinner Park in the West Loop for about a decade. In 2001, she said, residents began working with the CPD on a master plan for Skinner Park, and the dog park formed part of that framework. “We had a series of meetings to discuss what we wanted as a community,” explained Toy, president of the Skinner Park Advisory Council and a proponent of the original plan.
Leslie Recht, an area resident for 32 years and proponent of the new plan, served on the park’s steering committee. “A conceptual plan was put together, and the Park District originally put the dog friendly area at Loomis and Adams,” she said. “It was just a sketch. The plan was never really followed, though.”
Toy said the Loomis Street location would have been approximately 65 feet wide and run two-thirds of the way from Adams to Monroe. “It was a linear design, but still a good size, approximately 18,000 square feet,” she said.
Still larger than most According to CPD spokesperson Zvezdana Kubat, an average dog friendly area measures around 5,000 square feet. “Some are very large parks, but for dog friendly areas comparable to Skinner Park, 7,100 square feet,” the size of the Monroe and Laflin site, “is on a larger scale,” Kubat said.
“The idea of building a huge dog park would draw people from all over the city,” said Recht, a volunteer who works on park and school issues for Second Ward Alderman Robert Fioretti. “This is a neighborhood park for dog owners in the area.”
Recht said it is difficult to balance the community’s different interests. “Skinner Park is used for soccer, baseball, after school programs, and recess,” she noted. “The after school program has 150 kids every day. A lot of people use the park.”
Toy does not understand why CPD would spend $150,000 — the cost it projected to build over a parking lot — when it could move ahead with the original site.
“We proposed to the City that we would fund it, build it, and maintain it,” Toy said. “We don’t need money from the Park District, just a long-term lease from the City. We have enough money to build a fence around the area. We have $25,000 in an escrow account, and there’s also a $10,000 donation from LaSalle Bank (now Bank of America) that was designated for the dog park.”
Protest at alderman’s house
In an effort to get answers, Toy organized a protest walk to Fioretti’s house. On the Sunday before Labor Day, about 45 people walked from Loomis and Monroe Streets to the proposed location, then to the Alderman’s house.
“We rang his doorbell, but nobody answered,” Toy said. “The Skinner Park Advisory Council put together a presentation packet and dropped it off at his office the following week. We haven’t heard back from him since then.”
“It’s my understanding that the protest was about the size of the park, not the location,” said Kubat. “We didn’t want to use up more park land for the dog park. We were able to obtain another 2,000 square feet from Chicago Public Schools. We originally had 5,000 square feet. This is an area that is not heavily used by kids. Logistically, it seemed the best location.”
Recht said some felt concern about the chemicals used for cleaning dog friendly areas. “The park district requires these areas to be power washed every couple of weeks,” Recht explained. “There was a concern that the chemicals used might leach into the fields. The idea of the parking lot just came up a couple of years ago. We thought it would work better if the dog friendly area was put to the side of the park rather than in the middle.”
“Alderman Fioretti reneged on a promise,” said Toy. “I feel angry. I feel like they are trying to shove this new location down without community input. It’s a bad location and a bad size. They said they had the community support to move the park, that the new location was well received, yet we were never informed about these meetings. None of the dog owners support it.”
“We know that’s not true,” countered Recht. “People were involved in the planning. The Chicago Park District held meetings about the playground and the dog park. I’ve talked with multiple dog owners [who] do want this park. Many residents support the location. A number of people from the condo association at the 1500 Monroe building said they are delighted that a dog friendly area will be next to their building.”
“We proposed the new location in September 2008,” said Kubat. “The…consensus was that the community was fine with the relocation. The new site is not on park land but is adding to the park.”
‘All on the same page’
Joyce D. Kenner, principal of Whitney Young High School, met with representatives from the Board of Education, CPD, and Alderman Fioretti in August. “We are all on the same page in terms of where the dog park should be located,” said Kenner. “We’re trying to be good neighbors. We have enough parking spots for our staff. If people are unhappy with the identified location, then we need to come together and talk before any decisions are made.”
Even at 7,100 square feet, Toy believes the space is too small. “It is significantly smaller than the proposed Loomis Street dog park. Again, no one in the community was consulted. No one on the advisory council was consulted. We just don’t want our tax dollars wasted building a dog park that the dog owners consider unsafe and will not use. Every dog owner I spoke with said that, if it were between a ten to 15 parking space dog park and none at all, they would rather have none at all. We’ll continue to fight this waste of tax dollars.”
According to Recht, CPD normally requires the community to raise the funds for dog areas, but in this case it will use tax increment financing money. The dog owners, however, must pay for cleaning and maintenance.
“Residents need to see the real facts to make an informed decision,” said Recht. “We will have another public meeting soon to show the new plans. We’ll announce the meeting with flyers, email blasts, and notices in the park. The alderman’s website (chicago2ndward.com) will also include information about date and time.”
In the meantime, construction on the Skinner Park dog friendly area is scheduled to begin next year. Recht remains positive and feels excited that area residents soon will have two dog parks within a five-block area, as another dog park is under construction at Adams and Sangamon Streets.
