(CHICAGO)….. The City of
Waukegan
’s bold redevelopment plan for an
underutilized, two-mile stretch of
Lake
Michigan
shoreline – once a base for heavy industry and now largely
abandoned – has earned the Metropolitan Planning Council’s 2005 Burnham Award
for Excellence in Planning.
For 18 years, the Burnham
Award has recognized innovative plans and projects in the
Chicago
region. This
year’s award, which included a $5,000 cash prize, was announced before an
audience of more than 1,000 business, government and civic leaders at the
Council’s Annual Meeting Luncheon on Wednesday, Oct. 26, at the Hyatt Regency
Chicago.
“With its Lakefront-Downtown Urban Design Plan
,
the City of Waukegan undertook a thoughtful, inclusive planning process to
boldly envision the largest piece of vacant Lake Michigan lakefront between
Chicago and Wisconsin as a recreational, residential and commercial ‘harbor
city,’” said
MarySue Barrett
, MPC
president, who presented the Burnham Award to the City of Waukegan’s Mayor
Richard H. Hyde. “Big dreams are admirable; however, what earned
Waukegan
the 2005 Burnham
Award for Excellence in Planning is that the city went a critical step further
to guide the creation of a feasible, long-term plan for preserving,
rehabilitating, and redeveloping this regional gem.”
Lake Michigan’s shoreline is, indeed, the region’s single-greatest
natural
and
recreational attraction, from Michigan’s beach towns
to the Indiana Dunes
National
Lakeshore, from Chicago’s
27 miles of “forever open, free, and clear” lakefront to the glorious setting
of
the Milwaukee
Art Museum. Yet for
years, a two-mile stretch of prime beachfront property
in
Waukegan missed its highest calling, as heavy industry
jobs declined in
the
Midwest.
As industry
waned, residents and local leaders, including the former mayor
of
Waukegan, the late Daniel
T. Drew, raised the call to revitalize the lakefront. In 2002, the city invited
a panel of development experts – convened by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and
chaired by William J. Hudnut, ULI’s senior resident fellow on public policy – to
devote five days to considering the future of the 1,400-acre site. The panel
recommended that the city phase out industrial uses, clean up environmental
pollution, and build a “new harbor city” on the lakefront, with recreational,
residential and retail uses, and easier access to Waukegan’s downtown via
existing and realigned infrastructure. The panel also recommended that the city
seek assistance beyond its own resources to manage a project of such
magnitude.
Widespread public support for the plan allowed the city to increase its sales
tax to fund the project and infrastructure improvements in Waukegan’s
neighborhoods. The city retained the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
to lead elected and appointed officials and residents in an extensive planning
and community participation process. From this effort, SOM drafted the
Waukegan Lakefront-Downtown Urban Design Plan. In 2003, the city
adopted a 20-year master plan, setting forth a strategy for environmental
remediation, and the addition of parks and open space, thousands of new homes,
and hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail, hospitality, entertainment,
education and cultural facilities. Since then, the city has taken significant
steps toward realizing the plan’s goals, including obtaining financing to
support brownfield clean up, re-energizing Waukegan ’s nightlife by reopening
the Genesee Theater, and issuing design guidelines and requests for proposals to
developers interested in lakefront redevelopment opportunities.
“Waukegan has what it
takes to prosper: a prime location, a wealth of natural assets, a business-
friendly environment, and a growing population comprised of hard-working residents
who have put heart and soul into reinvigorating our city,” said Mayor Hyde.
“I’m honored to accept this award on behalf of the people
of
Waukegan, and I look
forward to each step we take toward a more thriving, vibrant city.”
In addition to the
presentation of the Burnham Award, MPC’s Annual Meeting Luncheon featured a
keynote address given by City of
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley
. Mayor Daley
discussed the important role
Chicago
plays in building a vibrant region, as
well as his priorities in the areas of housing, education, transportation, and
the environment.
The Council also recognized
all those who made possible the success of its Bold Plans Bright Future Campaign
for an endowment and special program initiatives. Anchored by an exceptional $4
million gift from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 2001, the
campaign was a two-year effort to raise $14.2 million to fund an endowment,
support special programmatic opportunities, and provide operating support for
2003 and 2004.
Finally, the Council
welcomed new officers and board members, and recognized event sponsors Allstate;
BNSF Railway; Bombardier, Inc.; BP America; Chase; and ComEd, An Exelon Company,
each of which generously contributed $20,000.
Founded in 1934,
the Metropolitan Planning Council (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 an economically
competitive
Chicago region. MPC researches and
develops policy recommendations and conducts outreach and advocacy in partnership
with public officials and community leaders to enhance equity of opportunity
and quality of life throughout
metropolitan
Chicago.