Coming to 79th Halsted, A Passive Park, Really?
Published: July 1, 2015
On 79th street, people are talking about “passive” vs. “active” park features. What exactly does that mean?
This topic arose when an unfortunate circumstance occurred and the once beautiful terracotta Walgreens landmark, located on the southeast corner of 79th and Halsted came tumbling down. With support from GreenCorps Chicago, It was noted that land would have to be redeveloped in a historic, sustainable and meaningful way. After several years of no investment or interest, a proposal to help market the site potentially with a passive 'terracotta' park was brought to the forefront. The Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corporation (GADC) was asked to manage and oversee the parks proposal, on behalf of the community and the commercial corridor. The agreement for a passive park, at this time meant, park yes, but that no "active" recreation would be allowed.
The ultimate decision was made the land would temporarily become a wooden “passive park.”
There was mixed reaction from the community about a passive park coming to such a vibrant corner of 79th Halsted, when a new business is needed along this corridor. The big question became: What is a “passive park?"
The Definition of ‘passive park’ has been well-documented. To make it easy for the community and In an effort to provide some clarity for our purposes, we are using this definition:
Passive Park: Self-generated space, requires little to no administration, walk-up and do, unscheduled, often times dawn to dusk. Examples of passive recreation currently are: walking on open-trails, taking a lunch to an open-picnic area, a photographer taking pictures of nature/wildlife or using the park as a location for running, biking on mountain trail etc.
Or a passive park can be defined simply as a “landscaped open space which is used for recreational purposes which do not involve large concentrations of people or activity on a regular basis, such as walking trails, conservation projects, statue parks, ponds and picnic areas.”
Some towns define passive parks as being “oriented primarily to the enjoyment of the natural environment such as walking trails, conservation projects…” On west 79th street, really?
A very detailed definition in a Wikipedia article states that passive recreation offers “sedentary activity such as observing nature, bird watching, painting, photography, or picnicking.” It also includes “low level development, such as rustic picnic areas, benches, trails or an outdoor walking exhibit.”
Makes sense, so moving forward! The temporary passive park will have a boardwalk made of lumber being milled at the site pictured. It will also include some information about the site, the plants, the community, and key historical factoids.
Lastly, the brick wall on the side of Auburn Gresham Day Care will be tuck-pointed and a mural created on the side of the business facing west. Our goal is to retain we can get local artists, or youth to create a mural there. Temporary Passive Park.
The "temporary" passive park to be installed at 7901 South Halsted is beginning the initial stages. Once complete, it will hopefully spawn attention for re-development to a site that again.