Do you love your Parks? If so, invest 10 minutes of your time in the effort to permanently halt construction.

NOW IS THE TIME to write emails to the Park District. NOW IS THE TIME for our voices to be heard. Even more parkland is threatened as FOIA’d documents reveal Museum CEO Billy Ocasio’s clandestine plan to take control of dozens of additional acres of the park (see previous petition update).

Ocasio filed documents with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office. In those documents he misrepresented that the building was only 1500 sqft. He also misrepresented that no trees would be cut down. He also stated that his future plan is to expand the footprint of the museum to take control of acres of parkland! Why haven’t we heard about this? Consider yourselves informed.

Do you want more fences, gates and large areas of the park permanently privatized? Park lovers don’t remain silent and sit on the sidelines while an attempt to take our Park from us is actively occurring. Taxpayers don’t need another $1 per year for 99-year lease deal! Let’s preserve and protect our natural resources!

The construction of the Archives building, without permission from the Park District, without permission from the Chicago Dept of Buildings, and without permission from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks is simple to describe. Besides being an Atrocity (as described by Logan Square Preservation), the Archives building was constructed illegally, without transparency, without oversight, and it excluded all the necessary community meetings which means it was built devoid of our input.

The landgrab by Billy Ocasio has just started. We need to stop this building NOW, which is the gateway to further expansion and development of our sacred parkland. THIS IS OUR CHANCE TO LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD. There is no better time than NOW to compel the landlord to instruct their tenant to get into compliance with their lease by tearing down the Humboldt Park Atrocity.

The few minutes this will take will protect the park now and will preserve it for future generations. We cannot allow the precedent to be set by allowing lawlessness to prevail, and to allow anyone to run roughshod over processes and protections that apply to the rest of us and should have protected us all from this attempted theft of community property.

I have provided text and email addresses (below) from the email letter that I sent, which you are invited to re-use in part or in whole. Please copy or blind copy your emails to me at books@kurtgippert.com as they may need to be printed and presented to other decision makers in the future.

Thanks for caring, thanks for reading and following along, and thanks for signing the petition and for encouraging others to sign. Your continued efforts are urgently needed.

Email to: Heather.Keil@chicagoparkdistrict.com superintendent.escareno@chicagoparkdistrict.com

Dear Ms. Keil and Superintendent Escareno,

My name is Kurt Gippert, and my wife and I started a petition 10 days ago to protest the construction of a building next to the historic Refectory and Stables building in Humboldt Park. The petition link is:

(https://www.change.org/Appropriation_of_Parkland_by_Former_Alderman_Must_Be_Stopped

Thus far the petition has gained over 1200 signatures and has been mentioned in the media and is of great interest to local preservation groups.

It is my understanding that the Park District of Chicago Department of Planning and Construction received a set of architectural plans from Luis A. Martinez of Exemplary Builders. These plans were provided to you recently, months after construction of the existing foundation and shell of the new building began, and after the City of Chicago Department of Buildings placed a Stop Work order on the project and developer for failing to obtain building permits.

According to the lease the Park District has with the NMPRAC, the tenant does not have permission to build on the leased land without Park District approval. According to statements I received from the Park District, no approval was given.

Your tenant has broken their lease. Please act as protectors of parkland by instructing your tenant to demolish and remove the partially built structure.

As much as we personally support the construction of an Archives building and museum expansion in the community, the current placement of the structure, its height, and the design renders it incompatible and inappropriate for the site. The historic structure is a protected landmark, which according to the Landmark Commission of Chicago include the elevations and the roofline. For reference, here is the language which is part of the landmark ordinance:

“The building exemplifies the role of parks in Chicago…with pastoral settings devoted to passive recreation” and “The significant historical and architectural features of the Building…are all exterior elevations, including courtyard elevations and rooflines, of the Building.”

Please honor this legislation and act in your roles and capacities to the highest standards and abilities of your public service and order the demolition of this ill-conceived project that was pursued without landlord, city, or landmark review and which was constructed excluding public comment.

If the museum and developer had followed the proper procedures, there may have been an opportunity for community review through a public hearing as called for in the Chicago Park District Code Chapter 10 Section A number 4 or other reasons. Or public review may have been allowed by the Department of Buildings or ordered by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks. And if the original IDNR and IL SHPO application stated a 2-story 6800 square feet structure and included all the typically required architectural plans, instead of falsely stating a 1500 square foot 1-story building and providing a single-sheet conceptual sketch, the project may have received a potential adverse effect designation by the state which could have prompted a required public meeting.

The public has been completely excluded from the process. Once the building is torn down, the museum can start over and from the beginning open an honest conversation, and obey all of the laws, respect the procedures and processes, and proceed if they obtain approvals from all the parties involved, which needs to include the public.

The Archives building, which by design must be windowless in order to block sunlight and to provide an archival setting, will block views of the protected structure. The south and west elevations of the new structure are what parkgoers and property owners on the perimeter of the park will see, compromising enjoyment of the park, appreciation for architecture, and according to area Realtors, devalue property values.

A Receptory/Stables building will never again be built in Chicago. The Archives building can be built anywhere. It was sited in the Park out of convenience to the tenant, not out of necessity.

Since the Receptory Stables structure and parcel is fenced off, all that parkgoers can enjoy is the unparalleled view of the unique and historic structure. From any viewpoint of the surrounds that were masterfully conceived and implemented under the direction of landscape architect and pioneer Jens Jensen, not even one roof tile, arch, or window should be blocked by a new and incompatible structure, especially one that proceeded without approval, oversight, and respect.

Park District, engage the community. Show us that you care. Be heroic, restore democracy to the parks, and stop the process of exclusion of the community and halt this threat to our public lands.

Thank you,

Maria Cabrera and Kurt Gippert