Construction is officially underway for the upcoming DuSable Park at 451 North DuSable Lake Shore Drive in Streeterville. Decades in the making, the small park will replace a long-vacant peninsula connected to the ongoing multi-tower 400 LSD development. A small groundbreaking event was held by the Park District along with city officials last week.
Rendering of DuSable Park by Ross Barney and Brook Architecture
Rendering of DuSable Park by Ross Barney and Brook Architecture
Spanning 3.5 acres on the east side of the drive, the park will honor and partially tell the story of Chicago’s first non-native permanent settler and his Potawatomi wife, Kitihawa. The public green space was designed by local firms Ross Barney Architects and Brook Architecture. They have envisioned multiple small activity areas connected to the lakefront path flyover and Riverwalk.
Plan of DuSable Park by Ross Barney and Brook Architecture
Rendering of DuSable Park by Ross Barney and Brook Architecture
The park’s connection will be the ending point of a new portion of the Riverwalk being built as part of 400 LSD. This will be the start of various winding paths through a large lawn, an overlook hill with native plantings, a small woodland, a wet prairie environment, a waterfront boardwalk, and a large plaza containing the park’s sculptural pavilion.
Rendering of DuSable Park by Ross Barney and Brook Architecture
Rendering of DuSable Park by Ross Barney and Brook Architecture
This pavilion was designed to create a void in the rough shape of DuSable’s original cabin, flanked by further information about the city’s formation through his story. The $15 million project is being partially funded through $10 million from Related Midwest as part of 400 LSD. Construction is expected to take around 18 months, with the park set to open in summer 2028.
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This will be a nice point to finally conclude the north side of the river walk. I like the thought put into the dedication to DuSable, look forward to walking out there next year sometime.
Finally!
Glad to finally see this happen, they’ve been talking about this for decades
I am also glad to see this park finally getting built.
However, my one small worry was that it looks like they have patched up the future site of the southern tower for 400 Lake Shore Drive with a dirt(?) field. I know that finishing this park is a requirement before they start the second tower, but is them planting trees there indicative that the pause will be longer than expected perhaps?
Off topic but tower crane is up at 7 W Elm