The Case of the Disappearing Limestone is not a new Sara Paretsky mystery. Rather, it is part of a continued debate between community activists, politicians, and the agencies working on the revetment along Chicago's historic lakefront.
Activists say city officials, including the Department of the Environment, still are not listening when it comes to making sure the limestone is not entirely lost during the plan to stop erosion. They don't want a repeat of the cement walls north of Belmont, preferring to have at least some limestone remain a part of the lakefront's design.
At a meeting hosted by 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney last week, activists again heard from Marcia Jimenez, head of the Department of Environment, and also Colonel Gary Johnston of the U.S. Army Corps, environmental activists and historic preservationists.
Both Tunney and U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel are weighing in on the 'historic' issue.
Emanuel's office sent a letter to the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, asking the agency to 'continue to advocate for an aesthetically pleasing element to this project.'
The IHPA has signed off on other parts of the city's lakefront renovations, but now they may hold back support of the final southern part of the Belmont to Diversey changes. The reason is partly the limestone, and possibly also because of the impact on migratory birds. Johnston even said because of the migratory bird issue, additional funds might be available to help make the project more appealing to the community.
The Lake Michigan Federation is worried that local and migratory birds may be losing feeding areas because of the new revetment.
Activists want limestone to be used for at least the top two tiers of the revetment in a continuous expanse from Belmont to Diversey. The city now says there is not enough limestone for either that or the toe berms going into Lake Michigan. Tunney said the toe berms may end up being made of concrete, and that perhaps only the top layer of the tiers will be limestone.
At this point, only about 240 stones—tagged earlier this year for the graffiti art on them—are available to be used on the tiers. This means they won't be used for a nature park set back from the revetment. But even 240 is not enough for the top tier, so the city is debating with community groups about the cost of buying additional cut limestone. The city claims it would cost $5 million, while activists said they have prices of around $400,000 for 1,000 pieces.
Bob Clarke, president of Southeast Lake View Neighbors and chair of the Revetment Task Force, said there are three reasons the community wants more limestone and the toe berms: for the birds, for safety, and for aesthetic reasons.
The meetings continue to be frustrating for activists, who see the city quickly progressing on the northern part of the Belmont-Diversey project, pouring concrete even as meetings take place. Both the northern part as well as a newly announced renovation of Belmont Harbor are expected to be done by Memorial Day.
'If we have anything pinned down, there is at least some cake frosting, the cosmetic decoration of limestone along the top tier, and some texturing of the concrete so it looks less awful, and some version of toe berms,' Clarke said. 'That is very far short of what we're after. We have not signed off on this. We are still unsatisfied that they have met the terms of the 1993 agreement that they would rebuild the stepstone, to reproduce the historic revetment (stepstone was defined as limestone). The agreement was violated—the IHPA signed off on this breech of the agreement. Now they say they will not sign off on Promontory Point [in Hyde Park] and at least the south stretch of Belmont to Diversey. They have decided it was a mistake in allowing this to proceed.'
While the IHPA, environment and community groups continue to press for more specifics, more concrete gets poured, more trucks roll, and the project rumbles toward a completion that activists worry will endanger both nature and people.