Should the city of Chicago pursue national park designation along the shores of Lake Michigan? Voters in several city precincts say that officials should pursue the idea.
Voters in three precincts in Ward 49, located in the East Rogers Park neighborhood on the city’s Far North Side, voted in favor of a referendum on Tuesday’s primary ballot asking that very question.
When asked if the city should “support the formation of a Chicago Lakeshore National Park,” 62% of voters in those precincts voted yes, according to the Chicago Board of Elections.
The idea of creating a national park along the shores of Lake Michigan is not a new one, but it has recently picked up steam among many groups, including Preservation Chicago.
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“The idea of a national park partnership and shared responsibilities for these vast lakefront parklands would allow for improved maintenance, less privatization of recreational lands and facilities, and access to more funds for new parklands in communities across Chicago,” the group said. “This concept would also free up funds for park programming and services for people of all ages.”
The group is encouraged by the possibility of additional tourism dollars, and cited the success of the Pullman National Monument on Chicago’s Far South Side as an example of how federal control of tracts of land can have.
An editorial in the Chicago Tribune, published in 2021, echoed many similar themes, and argued that the creation of a national park would ensure the preservation of the lakefront on behalf of the city’s residents.
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“If City Hall were a reliable steward, ready to fight each proposed encroachment and to create more public access, the lakefront’s future wouldn’t be in doubt,” the editorial read.
In a counterargument also published by the Chicago Tribune, Marquette University law professor Joseph Kearney and Columbia University law professor Thomas Merrill argued that giving control of Chicago’s lakefront to the federal government could have unintended consequences.
“Legislation creating a Lakefront National Park could be written to preserve existing things not ordinarily found in a national park…but the lakefront’s history has involved continual evolution,” the pair argued. “What if the Museum of Science and Industry or Shedd Aquarium needs to expand? The park service does not look kindly on expanding existing structures in national parks. And creating a national park would divest local planners of final authority over any revisions to (DuSable) Lake Shore Drive and associated parks on both sides of town.”
A national park designation would require an act of Congress, but the president of the United States can issue a declaration designating land as a national monument without Congressional approval.
In recent years, the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore were redesignated as Indiana Dunes National Park in legislation signed by former President Donald Trump in 2019.
The park covers approximately 20 miles of the southern shore of Lake Michigan, comprised of more than 15,000 acres, according to the National Park Service.
