Hairston Fail #1: The Point Collapse

posted by chicago pop

HAIRSTON FAIL #1:

Early in her tenure, Fifth Ward Alderman Leslie Hairston lost control of negotiations over the repair of a crucial and decaying stretch of lakefront, and ultimately lost $24 million in federal funding to fix it. Her lack of leadership led to the eventual rejection of the Compromise Plan of 2003 -- the best chance for a solution that met the demands of modern engineering and reasonable community input. Hairston was intimidated by a vocal group of activists and the plan was dropped in 2005.

Since then, funding has evaporated.

The lake shore revetment that surrounds what Hyde Parkers affectionately refer to as "The Point" is rotting. Every winter it is hammered by ferocious waves so that its once level and tiered limestone blocks (ca. 1920s-1930s) sink in a ragged jumble even further into Lake Michigan, and the steel and timber crib that originally held them all together juts out ever more visibly. The soil of Promontory Point itself is slowly eroding around the edges.

This is not how Promontory Point was intended to be. It may look nice from a distance and in fuzzy watercolor paintings, but it is incontrovertibly and dangerously dilapidated. It must be rebuilt. Its current condition is a danger to public safety, a disgrace to the Chicago Park District, and the fact that it was not fixed in the early 2000's is the most conspicuous HAIRSTON FAIL.

Let's Go Spelunking at Promontory Point!

posted by Elizabeth Fama

I mentioned in my previous post that the Promontory Point revetment is becoming dangerous in many sections, and it's my guess that the City gives a few tickets to swimmers every year just to protect itself against future liability lawsuits if (or when) someone is seriously hurt or killed.

If you haven't walked along the promenade and examined the erosion of the revetment from top to bottom, as I've suggested in the past, you might be surprised to see how far it has deteriorated in many sections. Let's explore one of those sections in detail...

There are currently two (accidental, unsanctioned) water access sites on the north side of Promontory Point, and this is one of them:

You can just make out a cave in the revetment steps in the background of this photo (look for the black hole, surrounded by shrub-like weeds, just above and left of center).

This is a view of that caved-in section, from the water:


The promenade is completely gone. And can you see the two side-by-side limestone blocks in the stepped revetment behind it that are seemingly balanced on nothing (again, above and left of center)? Well, here's the view just to the right of those two "suspended" blocks:



Now here's a photo of the cave under the two blocks, to the left:

A small child could fit in here. But I don't recommend taking your kids along this section of the Point. To tell you the truth, my own kids were annoyed (in that lovingly protective way they have) that I was teetering on the lack-of-promenade, taking these photos.

Doesn't anyone want a free Fix the Point bumper sticker?

Ah, Grasshopper: You Must Look at the Meadow to Understand the Waves

When the revetment was originally installed in the 1930s, the meadow (the grass behind the stones) reached almost to the top of the stone. When you walk on the edge of the meadow today, alongside the top limestone step, the grass is considerably "sunken:"
That represents a lot of lost sand and dirt: In some places, large objects are falling into the sunken areas, trees and weeds are growing (because the Park District lawn mowers are worried they'll fall in), and caves are forming under the stones. My brother-in-law lost his Jack Russell Terrier down this particular hole, and I'm not kidding:

Once again, I'm not a physicist or an engineer, but this isn't rocket science. The wave action under the unsupported revetment eats away the land below the limestone blocks, and the sand and dirt from the meadow erode into the lake.

Let's look at this example. This is what you see from the lake side --

I know it's tiny on your screen, but if you peer at it you'll see that in this spot the wood pilings, the steel girders, and the limestone blocks in the water are gone in many places, and there's an old cement slab hastily poured as a "repaired" promenade. The slab looks like icing on a cake -- thick, black icing on a cake that has giant bite marks in it. Mmm...cake...

Now, imagine east-wind waves smacking this shoreline, and washing right under that icing, wave after rhythmic wave.

This is what results on the other side of that section of revetment:

It's much more dramatic in person, and it would be even more dramatic if you pulled out those teenage trees that are growing in the sunken area, so that you could see how deep it is.

Try this test yourself: walk along the edge of the meadow, near the limestone blocks. Everywhere that you find the ground is especially sunken, scramble over the limestone blocks and really look at what's on the other side. I bet you'll find damaged girders, missing pilings, caves, and tumbled limestone on the lake side.

In fact, I'll bet my brother-in-law's Jack Russell Terrier on it.