Why is Friends of the Parks undertaking the Last Four Miles?
2009 is the 100th anniversary of the publication of Daniel Burnham’s and Edward Bennett’s 1909 Plan of Chicago, which declared: “The Lakefront by right belongs to the people – not a foot of its shores should be appropriated to the exclusion of the people.” This significant principle was re-affirmed by the Lake Michigan and Chicago Lakefront Protection Ordinance in 1973 with its mandate to “complete the publicly owned and locally controlled park system along the entire Chicago lakefront.” The 2009 Burnham Plan Centennial highlights our generation’s need to work to complete the lakefront park system for our children and grandchildren.
