SR0891 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0891 LRB103 39894 LAW 70886 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, In August 1993, a Memorandum of Agreement (Agreement) was executed to recognize that the Illinois Shoreline Erosion Interim 3 Project (Project) would affect portions of the Chicago shoreline that are historic properties listed or eligible for listing on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP); and

WHEREAS, The Agreement prioritizes the preservation of the historic properties and elements on the shoreline, with repair and rehabilitation to be performed consistent with the Secretary of the Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes (SOI standards), and aims for a design plan that would lead to a finding of No Adverse Effects (NAE) by the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO); and

WHEREAS, The Chicago District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has consulted with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) and SHPO pursuant to 36 CFR Part 800 and Section 106 of the 1965 National Historic Preservation Act to define the Agreement and prioritize the protection of the historic properties at Promontory Point so that the designs and planning for the shoreline management developed for Promontory Point would allow for a finding of No Adverse Effect (NAE); and

WHEREAS, The Agreement requires amending because the construction and rehabilitation of the Promontory Point reach of the original Project was not completed; and

WHEREAS, A major component of the uncompleted Project is Promontory Point, a 40-acre peninsula at the south end of Burnham Park, Chicago, comprising the Area of Potential Effects (APE), herein referred to as the "Undertaking"; and

WHEREAS, The scope of the Undertaking includes the pre-design, review, design planning, construction, and maintenance of the step-stone limestone revetment and promenade at Promontory Point for erosion control and storm damage management, and it specifically includes the repair and rehabilitation of the step-stone limestone revetment and promenade at Promontory Point, approximately 3,200 linear feet of shoreline between East 54th and 56th Streets; and

WHEREAS, The step-stone limestone revetment and promenade at Promontory Point is now subject to the continuation and funding of the Project consistent with the Agreement and the SOI standards; and

WHEREAS, Section 8336 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2022 in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 appropriates funding to finish the uncompleted sections of the shoreline Project, including Promontory Point; the 2022 Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Law, Public Law 117-58, funds an internal, third-party review of Promontory Point; also, a City of Chicago (City) 2023 capital bond funds a $5m design and planning contract for Promontory Point; and

WHEREAS, The Agreement also necessitates amendment because of the 24-year history of commitment and involvement by the local and City-wide community to seek a genuine preservation outcome at Promontory Point; and

WHEREAS, On June 21, 2002, SHPO issued a letter providing its refusal to issue a finding of NAE in regards to proposed activities at Promontory Point for the Lake Michigan Shoreline Protection, as recorded under IPHA log #109170043WCK; and

WHEREAS, The Agreement and SHPO's June 21, 2002 letter specify repair and rehabilitation to match the existing step-stone limestone revetment and promenade and to minimize impacts to the historic resources at Promontory Point under the SOI standards; and

WHEREAS, Discussions led by then-Senator Obama with the USACE, the City of Chicago, the Chicago Park District (CPD), SHPO, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), and the consulting parties led to the 2006 Obama Scope of Work, which provided an agreed-upon path forward for a preservation approach and community engagement process to design planning and construction at Promontory Point; and

WHEREAS, Section 5072 of the WRDA of 2007 directed but never funded a third-party, unbiased, independent preservation feasibility and cost analysis study of Promontory Point to be supervised by the Buffalo and Seattle offices of the USACE but was not deemed an element of the Project; and

WHEREAS, Other third-party, independent marine engineering studies in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2024 all demonstrated that Promontory Point remains functioning and operational for storm damage and shoreline protection, and that a preservation approach to repairing the step-stone limestone revetment and promenade can meet erosion control and storm damage protection requirements; and

WHEREAS, Promontory Point was listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on January 19, 2018, and it was designated a City of Chicago Landmark on April 19, 2023; and

WHEREAS, The significant historic features of Promontory Point are identified as the pavilion field house, including its pathways, the meadow, and original plantings, four council rings, the step-stone limestone revetment, the promenade, the 55th Street underpass and its porticos, and the David Wallach Fountain; and

WHEREAS, There are multiple conditions for the several elements of the structure of the revetment at Promontory Point, including the immediate parkland, the step-stone revetment, the promenade, the promenade sub-grade, and the timber cribbing; and

WHEREAS, The SOI standards provide for numerous treatments and solutions to address the multiple conditions of the limestone revetment and its structural elements at various locations and sections of Promontory Point; and

WHEREAS, Preserving the step-stone limestone revetment and promenade preserves the multi-generational, racial, and economic class community that has gathered at Promontory Point for almost 100 years; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we support the legitimate Community Preservation Plan for Promontory Point, Burnham Park, Chicago; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be delivered to Promontory Point Conservancy.