The Chicago River Rowing
& Paddling Center

 

Title: Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable River Center at DuSable Park

Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable River Center
at Du Sable Park

Concept As Proposed by
The Chicago River Rowing & Paddling Center
September 18, 2001

Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable is credited with being the "Founder of Modern Chicago" by virtue of the fact that he established the first permanent residence in Chicago. Arriving by way of Lake Michigan in a canoe with his Indian wife and two children in 1785, he built a prosperous farm located at the mouth of the Chicago River, at the site of the present Tribune Tower, where they lived until 1800. A successful entrepreneur, he was also Chicago's first black resident.

The Chicago Park District has dedicated a three-acre parcel of land located at the present-day mouth of the Chicago River to the memory of this great pioneer. Given the vigor and strength exhibited by Du Sable's settlement of Chicago's early frontier, the park honoring this man must equally commemorate his energy and spirit of community. Du Sable Park must be a place to which all Chicagoans are drawn, to pay homage to his achievements, to be educated about his life and times, and to experience and celebrate the Chicago River which gave the City its beginning. The site, due to its peninsular character, its dangerous seawalls and the barrier created by Lake Shore Drive, is currently very difficult to access, both physically and visually.

The symbolic location and public nature of Du Sable Park provides an irreplaceable opportunity to provide managed and programmed access to our city's river resource for the general public. The development of Du Sable Park also creates the possibility of linkages with Lake Shore Drive, particularly at the lower level (and possibility visually from the upper level).
In order to fulfill this mission, we propose that the park be comprised of three elements: a large-scale statue of Du Sable, an interpretative center and boathouse, and an interpretative trail of indigenous plantings and historic and current-day information elements.

The first component is a sculpture garden containing a large statue of Du Sable in the heroic tradition, personified as intelligent, determined, successful, welcoming and clothed in the dress of his day and occupation. (Alternatively, the statue might depict Du Sable with his family). The placement of this large-scale statue at this site allows an expansive visual impact, capturing the attention of those on the water, street level and both levels of Lake Shore Drive.

The second element is a facility which provides programming for educational activity and recreational access to the Chicago River: the Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable River Center. Programming for a park honoring Du Sable must educate and inspire Chicagoans about Du Sable's life and the nature and magnitude of his achievements in establishing the first permanent residence in Chicago at the mouth of the River. This requires providing imaginative historical exhibits as well as programmed access to the water. The River Center will therefore consist of an interpretative center and a boathouse for storage and launching of small human-powered watercraft (canoes, kayaks, and rowing shells). The River Center is envisioned as a "green building" optimizing the use of the natural environment of the site for passive solar heating, natural cooling through shading, berming and channeling summer breezes, and daylighting, to serve as a lakefront environmental educational pilot.

The third element of the park is an interpretative trail comprised of native plant species and other plantings which attract wildlife to the site, as well as information concerning the history of the development of the riverfront from Du Sable's time to the present.

The interpretative center will be funded and operated by a coalition of municipal agencies and private organizations which support and have expertise in educational and historical public programming in general and the life of Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable in particular.

The boathouse and all activity involving access to the water will be funded and operated by The Chicago River Rowing & Paddling Center, in conjunction with appropriate municipal agencies and private organizations (including the Chicago River Rowing & Paddling Foundation). The Chicago River Rowing & Paddling Center, whose motto is "Proving the River," was founded in 1979. It was the first organization to provide programmed public access to the Chicago River for the pursuit of non-motorized, human-powered, watercraft such as canoes, kayaks and rowing shells. By far the oldest such organization on the Chicago River, the Chicago River Rowing & Paddling Center has for the past 22 years operated out of the former Coast Guard Station, located directly across from Du Sable Park, between the Locks and Du Sable Harbor. The former Coast Guard Station is scheduled to be rehabilitated into a marine law enforcement facility in the near future.

The natural elements of the park would be funded and operated by appropriate municipal agencies and private organizations.

This proposal is endorsed by the Chicago Du Sable League.