Creating ‘Din City’ anywhere along Chicago River is wrong move
Friends of the Chicago River wholeheartedly agrees with the recent Sun-Times editorial that “Chicago shouldn’t rush to become Din City.”
We are committed to work with the city and Bally’s to help create the greenest, riverfriendliest casino in the world. However, we are dismayed that Chicago also seeks to create an unrestricted outdoor entertainment venue liquor license that would upend years of thoughtful planning for the Chicago River as a protected, natural corridor and community asset. The city should consider outdoor entertainment licenses along the river on a case-by-case basis, which would permit some outdoor events.
As the editorial correctly notes, establishing a blanket license for open-air entertainment venues citywide would violate core components of the Chicago River Design Guidelines which call for a connected, peaceful greenway of natural habitats and public parks, as a natural contrast to the urban environment.
The wholesale adoption of outdoor entertainment venues on a large scale flies in the face of these well-thought-out guidelines, developed over many years with community involvement.
Because the proposed casino, and other new venues such as the Morton Salt Shed, are prominently located on a few remaining large scale river-edge sites, we emphasize the importance of adhering to these riversensitive design guidelines. The casino, and all large-scale developments along the riverfront, must be models of sustainable design that incorporate a restored, natural, and accessible riverfront.
What we need most are design and policy approaches that embrace the river as a natural resource for people and wildlife, rather than a water feature to be exploited for entertainment.
We will push for the final casino design to prioritize nature-focused improvements to the river’s edge, including substantial neighborhood-scale public parks directly along the river with dense landscaped edges; microhabitats throughout the site; site planning with nature-based stormwater solutions; and protections for migratory birds and other wildlife. We are opposed to any ordinance that fails to recognize the river as an ecological and recreational resource.
We respectfully challenge the city and Bally’s to drive sustainable innovation for this first downtown casino in a major U.S. city, and to set an example of the greenest and most contextually sensitive casino in the world, worthy of its location along the already world-renowned Chicago River. Margaret Frisbie, executive director,
Friends of the Chicago River