The kick-off of the new community garden / proto-park at Albany and Whipple at Bloomingdale last Sunday was a great success: TPL, FBT, the City of Chicago, and members of the community were there to celebrate the new sod, grass sofa, and bulb planting with some tasty tamales and hot cocoa.
If you're having trouble viewing the photo slideshow above, you can check out the photos directly here.
Posted by Paul Smith on Oct 29, 2008
They City of Chicago released a Request for Proposals for construction engineering services for the Bloomingdale Trail. This RFP covers Phase I (Preliminary Design) and is funded partly by federal congestion mitigation funds. Responses are due by December 2, 2008.
Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail is working closely with the City and the Trust for Public Land to advance the trail’s development and ensure community input shapes the final design. We have held several community visioning exercises for local residents and other organizations including the Chicago Architecture Club have helped generate unique ideas to building the new greenway. Following that work, the RFP calls for a consultant that “will work closely with stakeholders from the community to develop an attractive, world-class, sustainable and innovative design” and includes plans for a future community-drive charrette.
Background information for the RFP including our draft community visioning report can be viewed at the Trust for Public Land’s Bloomingdale Trail site.
Continue Reading…Posted by Josh Deth on Oct 29, 2008
Saturday, October 25th
1811 N. Albany
10am to Noon
Join us in opening a new greenspace adjacent to the future Bloomingdale Trail. New sod is coming this week and on Saturday, Oct. 25th, we’ll be planting flower bulbs, cleaning up and celebrating the new community space and garden. Food and refreshment will be provided and there will be pumpkin decorating for the kids. So bring the family and some gloves if you want to help dig.
Are you interested in helping to maintain this garden and advocating for the Bloomingdale Trail? Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail is forming an advisory committee of neighbors near the Albany-Whipple park and we need your participation. Sign up at the event or email us.
Sponsored by FBT and Trust For Public Land.
Private funding for park improvements provided by Metlife Foundation.
Continue Reading…Posted by Josh Deth on Oct 17, 2008
The inaugural Chicago edition of Sunday Parkways took place yesterday, and the route took bikers, walkers, wheelchairs, and scooters under the Bloomingdale Trail along Humboldt Boulevard.
It was a great event and there was a large and enthusiastic turnout. Below is a video yours truly snapped as I biked (safely, with helmet on) under the Trail. The next Sunday Parkways is October 26 on the South Side. Be sure to get out there and support it, and let your local community leaders and politicians know that we want it to come back next year!
Posted by Paul Smith on Oct 06, 2008
For those of you who use the social networking website Twitter, you can now follow Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail @thebloomingdale. We’ll continue to blog regularly but we’ll use Twitter to post quick updates.
If you aren’t familiar with Twitter, it lets you post short messages from your mobile phone via text message or via the Twitter website, and you can “follow” others who do the same and read their posts. It’s similar to blogging but meant for shorter, more timely updates.
Posted by Paul Smith on Oct 05, 2008
