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CHICAGO (WLS) — The bustling beaches and sports fields of Calumet Park on Chicago’s Southwest Side will soon be joined by an exciting new feature.
This transformation is seen by many as a triumph, as a former dumping ground along Lake Michigan is set to become a vibrant public park.
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The recent unveiling of an official sign marked the location of Chicago’s latest park development.
For now, this space is designated with the temporary name, Park 608.
The Chicago Park District envisions the revival of these 40 acres of lakefront land at Calumet Park’s northeastern edge, integrating them back into the community.
“Chicago’s lakefront is for people and parks not for toxic waste dumps,” said Howard Learner, Environmental Law and Policy Center CEO.
Currently, it is the Calumet Confined Disposal Facility, or CDF. It was built in the 80s by the Army Corps of Engineers to dump dredged material from the Calumet River and Calumet Harbor to maintain access for ships.
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Activists and attorneys fought a plan to expand CDF. Instead the lakefront property will become a park for public use.
“Today, the city of Chicago and the Chicago Park District no longer support an expansion of the CDF. Instead we are committing to the expanding and restoration of that site into public park land as promised to this community decades ago,” Chicago Park District Superintendent Carlos Ramirez-Rosa said.
“After years of grassroots action and legal advocacy, this toxic landfill will be turned into a flourishing new park for the Southeast Side and all of Chicago,” said Brian Gladstein, Friends of the Parks executive director.
Once CDF closes, after one more dredging, the material needs to be capped and land restored for safe public use.
Joann Podkul has lived across from Calumet Park her whole life, and hopes the additional park will be a source of recreation for residents as the rest of Calumet Park has been.
“We are on the far, far, Far Southeast Side of the city. There are many people in the city who do not know we exist. So yes it will take longer here, but It doesn’t mean that it won’t happen,” Podkul said.
It will take years, even decades, for the transition.
But next year the Park District opens the planning process to the public, which includes the naming of what is now called Park 608.