By Jennifer T. Lacey

A South Side alderman blasted Mayor Daley's comments about the controversial Chicago Children's Museum move, saying the comments were "unconscionable."

Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) compared Daley's reaction to when she was fighting in City Council to pass a living wage ordinance. Daley is "wrong for trying to impose his will" upon Ald. Brendan Reilly (48th) and his constituents who oppose the move, she said.

The Navy Pier museum has been the center of a heated discussion since September when it was reported that Daley suggested race was a factor for residents' opposition toward the plans to build at Daley Bicentennial Plaza in Grant Park.

"I was in support of the living wage ordinance and what he did to that is the same thing he did here, which is to accuse the people of being racists," Preckwinle said. "So, this is old news as far as I'm concerned."

By Colette Ruscheinsky

Tiny feet scurry around a dusty ring as parents, coaches and neighbors from the Roger's Park community cheer on two 10-year-old boys during a Friday night boxing match in Loyola Park.

A boy in blue silk shorts moves his arms in slow, steady strokes like a windmill while his opponent in red takes short, swift jabs into his abdomen.

Cameras flash and mothers groan as the punches grow faster.

Even though the boy in blue loses the match, he touches gloves and smiles at his opponent before leaving the ring.

"This is what it's all about," champion boxer and Clarendon Park Coach Tom O'Shea said as he motions his head to the rink. "Teaching kids that there is a man in white up there calling the rules and making sure there is a fair, honest and straight fight."

O'Shea is one of 19 coaches who participates in the Chicago Park District's city wide boxing clinics for aspiring youth boxers that runs Sept. 24 through Dec 9. The Sept. 28 boxing tournament in Loyola Park's gym at 1230 W. Greenview Rd. was the second of three tournaments this fall.

By Michael Pasternak

As critics continue to accuse opponents of the Chicago Children's Museum's proposed move to Daley Bicentennial Plaza in Grant Park of racism, some local residents say increased traffic, not race, is their biggest opposition to the move.

"I want my park. I want this area free and clear," said Elizabeth Dolinsky, who lives about a mile from Grant Park and takes her three-year-old daughter there each week. "I'm really hoping the museum won't come here at all."

However, Bob O'Neill, president of the Grant Park Conservancy, which is in favor of the museum's move from its current location at Navy Pier, says Grant Park does not only belong to residents like Dolinsky.

"We look at Grant Park as Chicago's park, not as one particular neighborhood's park," O'Neill said. "They are being selfish. They don't want the congestion. That's elitist, hypocritical and it's wrong."

A new site launched recently around citizen and media opposition to building a new Children's Museum in Grant Park. Check it out for yourself at http://savegrantpark.org/

By Community Media Workshop

The Jackson Park Advisory Council, which voted earlier in the summer against siting Olympic venues in the park, will hold a public meeting with the Chicago 2016 Olympic committee's new community representative Sept. 10.

The advisory council has never been consulted about Chicago 2016 plans to site field hockey competitions in heavily-used soccer fields south of the Jackson Park lagoon, said Ross Petersen of the council.

By Erica Christoffer

Celebrating its one-year anniversary this summer, the Grant Bark Park was a longtime dream turned reality for South Loop resident Gail Merritt.

Now, if she can only get other dog owners to notice it's there.

The 18,000-square-foot doggie oasis is tucked just north of the 11th Street pedestrian bridge, between Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive, in Grant Park. It features open space dotted with tennis balls for playtime, a tree-lined gravel area where dogs can do their business or just cool off, and a drinking fountain just the right height for the four-legged variety.

Merritt, founder and president of the South Loop Dog Park Action Cooperative (PAC), spent six years working with the Chicago Park District to establish the off-leash dog park.

Motivated by her 6 ½-year-old dog, Chloe, Merritt said she and other volunteers seek to make the South Loop the most dog-friendly community in Chicago.

By Dan Selecman 

   For the next month, residents of Chicago's 48th Ward will be able to help complete a work of art that's been more than a year in the making.

   The underpass of Bryn Mawr Avenue at Lake Shore Drive in Edgewater is the site of a bricolage mural now under construction.

   "A bricolage, simply put, is something made from disparate parts," said Tracy Van Duinen, the lead artist for the project. In this project, the parts are pieces of tile and mirror, and the pieces are then attached to the wall of the underpass by a cement-like mixture.

   The mural was commissioned by Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th) as part of an effort to beautify the North Side ward. Ernie Constantino, who serves on Smith's staff, said the alderman contributed $15,000 to help pay for the project. The money came from the yearly allowance that each of the city's 50 aldermen receive in equal shares from the city. In total, more than $50,000 has been raised for the project, said Constantino.

By Adam Colmone

The space has been purchased, the design has been chosen and now the only part left is the actual building of the new Space Park at 815-817 W. Roscoe St.

Space Park has been in the works for the past three and a half years, says Triangle Neighbors Association President Jim Ludwig.

Inside Space Park,  there will be benches, sculptures, an open-patio seating area, and raised plants and flowers. Ludwig said there are four different sections inside the park that will give visitors privacy.

By Jennet Posey

Some South Shore residents aren't happy with the Friends of the Parks' plan to create off-shore beaches in their neighborhood.

Friends of the Park is pushing a proposal to complete the lakefront’s last four miles. Currently, there are 26 miles of public beaches along Chicago’s lakefront. The plan would convert two miles of private beaches on the Northside and two miles of private beaches on the Southside into public park space. These off-shore beaches would consist of islands that would include lagoons and bike paths.

Friends of the Park President Erma Tranter calls Chicago a “park poor city” and says the off-shore beaches would benefit residents who live nearby and the general public.

By Keri Lynch

Bird calls mix with the loud cheers of baseball fans in the Ginkgo Garden in Uptown. This productive plot is tucked between condo buildings less than a mile from Wrigley Field. Despite its urban location near the "el" tracks, this garden really grows.

The first harvests, in May, are mostly herbs, radishes and a few greens. As summer arrives, the baskets, bags and bins start filling up - with tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, beans, tomatillos, squash and assorted greens, plus plums, pears, apples, grapes and raspberries.