[ardecila]

The city owns virtually the entire 5300 block of S Prairie (both sides), and the CTA owns almost the entire block their station sits on, both Calumet and Prairie. Then U of C owns the 5400 block of S Calumet and S King Drive. If you expanded that DNAinfo map to the north and west, it would still be a sea of green and red with only a sprinkling of blue private owner holdouts.

There's so much available land here, even without using any of Washington Park. I just don't understand why there is a Park District issue at all. This isn't even like Lucas Museum where by all accounts the benefactor is demanding a parkland site... Obama's legacy is being enmeshed with communities, not set apart from them on a pedestal. Everything can be accommodated in the neighborhood and not in the park, even parking which can be spread out over a handful of lots.

This is an architectural question, but can anyone think of a large institutional building that activates its surroundings, instead of pulling back behind lawns, hedges, or parking lots?