Cecelia Kurtzweil
Three
Acres on the Lake – DuSable Park Proposal Project
(this
proposal changed over the course of two design workshops and in collaboration
with Kevin Hong and Akari Rakumoto, but we don’t have a text describing
the final version, which provided homeless shelters under the highway
rather than out on a boat)
My vision
for the three acres is to turn it into a Wilderness Educational Sanctuary/Homeless
Shelter. It would serve 150-200 homeless and would be a survey area for
censuses of the wildlife, bird life, wildflowers, butterflies and mammals
which the homeless would conduct under the supervision of the various
Chicago non-profit organizations which would be involved with this project.
The inhabitants would also carry out environmental studies under the supervision
of the U.S. or Illinois Environmental Protection AGency. There would be
educational programs for the inhabitants ranging from art to the sciences,
based on the natural habitat. There would be management of the bird population
in order to make the island a natural area for bird migrations.
In order
to serve 150-200 people, a ship/large boat/yacht would be permanently
moored at the island and outfitted with living arrangements for 150-200
inhabitants. The reason for the boat docking would be to preserve the
3 acres land mass for preservation and study. The island would be accessible
to the inhabitants. researchers and instructors only – not to the
general public. The inhabitants would be carefully screened because they
would need to perform all the functions for living arrangments o nthe
ship/boat/yacht, as well as assist in at least one of the wildlife censuses.
If a permanently
docked ship/large boat/yacht is not feasible, then a dormitory such as
the new Art Institute dormitory on State Street might be built, but I
doubt that the 3-acres plot is stable enough to support a building (besides
flooding which may take place).
I would like to see many terns, gulls and shore birds attracted to the island in the normal course. They may need to be encourated at first. I have seen first-hand at Manitowoc, WI, the splendor of thousands of shore birds on a small island on Lake Michigan, so I don’t see why these birds could not be attracted to this island.
Cecelia
Kurtzweil
Chicago, IL
in collaboration with Kevin Hong and Akari Rakumoto during design workshops,
June 2001