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MPC Unveils Bold Plans, Bright Future Campaign
IIT Wins Burnham Award for Campus Master
Plan
Sounding the call for coordination and
collaboration, today Rep. J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), speaker of the House,
outlined his priorities for the reauthorization of the federal transportation
legislation in the keynote address at the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC)
2003 Annual Meeting Luncheon. Speaking to an audience of more than 700 business,
civic and government leaders, Speaker Hastert emphasized that planning for
growth before it happens is a critical ingredient to ensuring Illinois receives
its fair share of transportation funds.
"For Illinois, no piece of legislation is more important than the reauthorization
of the transportation bill," Hastert said. "We must rise above partisan politics
to improve the rate of return [Illinois receives of the gas tax money it sends
to Washington, D.C.] Rail lines, bridges and roads are all part of how we get our
work done and how we get to work."
Earlier
this year, Business Leaders for Transportation, a coalition of more than 10,000
regional employers co-led by MPC, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and
Chicago Metropolis 2020, recommended a series of guiding principles for the
reauthorization bill. They include a return to a needs-based formula for
distributing funds, allocation of new resources to improve the nation’s freight
infrastructure, and coordination between land use and transportation
planning.
“There’s a
tremendous opportunity with this federal transportation reauthorization to make sure the states that have
the greatest need
receive a larger
share of federal transportation dollars. As Speaker
Hastert says, this will be critical
for Illinois,” said MPC President MarySue Barrett. “We can also build on the
framework of the last two transportation acts — which required some local and
regional planning — and reward those communities that look to the future and
coordinate beyond their borders, for the good of the entire
region.”
The
region’s transportation needs are also closely intertwined with housing and
education funding, and are among the sensible growth issues that top MPC’s
policy agenda.
“In
the Chicago region, transportation, housing, property taxes and sensible growth
are so closely intertwined, it’s nearly impossible to talk about one in
isolation,” explained Barrett. “When our leaders in Washington make the
connection, we benefit a great deal here at home.”
During
this spring’s Illinois General Assembly in Springfield, MPC successfully
advocated for the state’s first housing strategy, and additional state funding
for education. To build on its recent accomplishments and have an even greater
impact on equity of opportunity and quality of life in the region, MPC announced
at today’s luncheon that it is launching its first-ever endowment campaign —
anchored by a $4 million unsolicited gift from the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation. Through its Bold Plans, Bright Future Campaign, MPC
intends to raise $14.2 million by the end of 2004, including $4 million in new
monies. With 100 percent of its 50-member Board of Governors contributing a
total of $1.65 million toward the $2 million to date, MPC is well on its way to
meeting its overall goal.
“Almost
70 years ago the Metropolitan Housing Council was founded to improve housing
conditions in the city of Chicago. Today, the Metropolitan Planning Council has
become one of the most effective sensible growth advocates in the region… the
right organization to take on the right issues at the right time,” said Lee
Mitchell, principal of Thoma Cressey Equity Partners, co-vice-chair of
development for MPC’s Board of Governors, and one of the co-chairs of the Bold
Plans, Bright Future Campaign.
As
it does each year at its Annual Meeting, MPC elected new members of its Board of
Governors and Resource Board.
Incoming
Board members are:
-
Warren K. Chapman, Director of Corporate Philanthropy,
Bank One;
-
David K. Hill, Chairman & CEO, Kimball Hill Homes;
-
Jimmy Lago, Chancellor, Archdiocese of Chicago;
-
George W. Lofton, Vice President of External Affairs
and Claims, ComEd, An Exelon Company;
-
Timothy S. Crane, Executive Vice President, Harris
Trust and Savings Bank;
-
Thomas Morsch, Marsh, Inc.;
-
Reinhard Schneider, Managing Director & Industry
Portfolio Manager of Real Estate, Bank of America;
-
Sona Wang, General Partner, Inroads Capital Partners;
and
-
Hank
Webber, Vice President of Community & Government Affairs, University of
Chicago.
New
to the Resource Board are:
-
Mark Angelini, Vice President of Development, The Shaw
Company;
-
Ellen Craig, a telecommunications and energy
consultant;
-
Judy Erwin, Senior Vice President, Res Publica Group;
-
Juanita Irizarry, Executive Director, Latinos United;
and
-
Thomas
M. McDermott, Executive Director, Northwest Indiana
Forum.
Today, MPC also presented its Burnham Award for Excellence
in Planning. This year’s winner, the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), was
honored for its Main Campus Master Plan — designed by architect and IIT Board of
Trustees member Dirk Lohan, grandson of famed architect Ludwig Mies van der
Rohe, who developed IIT’s original plan in 1940.
“The
selection committee was impressed with the way in which the Master Plan touches
on so many aspects of community development,” said Terry Perucca, president of
Bank of America in Illinois, and presenter of the Burnham Award. “The IIT campus
is gaining renown for its strong commitment to help stimulate the revitalization
of the surrounding community.” Bank of America sponsored the 2003 Burnham Award,
which features a $5,000 cash prize.
Founded
in 1934, MPC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group of business and civic leaders
committed to serving the public interest through the promotion and
implementation of sensible planning and development policies necessary for a
world-class Chicago region. MPC conducts policy analysis, outreach and advocacy
in partnership with public officials and community leaders to improve equity of
opportunity and quality of life throughout metropolitan
Chicago.
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