Chicago, IL: New Chinatown and Ping Tom Memorial Park

(Update: AJ Grigg blog)

20150502 0723c

In 1971 when Amtrak was formed, the Dearborn Passenger Station was closed because Amtrak moved all remaining passenger trains to Union Station. With this closure the C&WI tracks northeast of the 21st Street Crossing became obsolete. Later, the Santa Fe coach yard became obsolete. This land has been redeveloped as a northern extension of Chinatown. Below is the eastern end of Chinatown Square.


There are a lot of new resident buildings. Below is a small sampling of the buildings. Many views remind you how close you are to the Canal Street RR Bridge.

This is the first time I have included a picture of an "alley." Someone did a lot of work decorating the backside of the building that is at the end of the alley.



But the gem of new Chinatown is the Ping Tom Memorial Park near the north end of the residential area.

At the entrance, we can see the Orange Line that goes over the park and the north tower of the Canal Street RR bridge in the background. As we walk down the entrance way, we see the CN/IC tracks that still go through the area and begin to see the shelter that is stylized as a Pagoda. Note there is a CN truck modified to be able to run on the rails.

When I got to the tracks, I took a picture looking North. Most railfans are really engine fans. But as you can see, I'm actually a fan of rail. It looked well maintained. At the end of the entrance way, I took five pictures starting with a look back at the entrance way (East) and then looking Southwest, West, NNW, and North.

Actually, I took these five pictures at the end of my stay when I realized it would be a better way to understand the layout of the park. The tall black building in the background of the two northern pictures is the  Sears/Willis Tower.

There is quite a bit more park north of 18th Street. From a spot looking south at the 18th Street Bridge to provide orientation with the rest of the park, I took a picture to the North.

The main reason for going to the park was to check out the views of the Canal Street RR Bridge and St. Charles Air Line RR Bridge. The views are good, but I need to go back during the morning for the Canal Street RR Bridge so that it is not back lit.

And I learned about the 18th Street Bridge. It is unusual because it is one long span rather than two spans that meet in the middle.

This view struck me as just plain old pretty. The canal wall that has boards instead of steel pilings is where the water taxi docs.

That "dot" in the middle of the River is indeed a duck. I wonder if ducks always swam in the river or if this means that the river is not as polluted as it used to be. Or it might simply mean that people feed the ducks here.



Update: I have a rule of doing field trips in Chicago to go only on weekends because of traffic and parking. But I violated this rule when I was up relatively early on a sunny day to get better pictures of the Canal Street RR bridge. Not only was the traffic on I-90 bad around 10am, the traffic was also bad when I came home on I-55. But there were plenty of parking spots left on the north side of Chinatown's parking lot, which is where I want to park anyhow.

20150513 1419

This time I noticed a statue of Ping Tom. The text reads:

Ping Tom Memorial Park was named in honor of the leading force behind its creation. Chinatown's most noted civic leader, Ping Tom. A lifelong resident of Chinatown, Ping Tom became president of several businesses in the community after earning degrees in Economics and Law from Northwestern University. In 1984 he and other business leaders formed the Chinese American Development Corporation. This private real estate firm transformed a 32-acre rail yard site into Chinatown Square, a one hundred million dollar residential and commercial expansion of Chinatown. Ping Tom was Founding President of the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, a past President and Director of the Chinese American Civic Council, and an advisory board member of the Chinese American Service League. Ping Tom served as trustee for a number of important civic and cultural institutions. He was also an advisor to US Senators, Illinois Governors, and Chicago Mayors.    Sculptor LIAO HUILAN.

The other side of the pedestal was written in Chinese.

Below is a view of the park looking back at the entrance from the framing of the Pagoda-styled pavalion. Past the two columns is the crossing gates for the CN/IC railroad and the Orange CTA line that was built relatively recently to Midway Airport that uses the old Santa Fe passenger right-of-way past the 21st Crossing that is near the south end of this park.

I'm used to retaking pictures of bridges and dams. I learned that if you want to retake pictures of flower gardens, you had better do it quickly! I include an original May 2nd picture as well as a May 13th picture.

While on the topic of nature, my second visit encountered a family. I learned years ago that geese like areas next to water that have a clear view of the water. If there is plant growth along the water's shore, it is hard to determine if there are predators hiding in the growth. The big office parks in the far western suburbs had retention lakes that attracted so many geese that they became an issue. One year a couple built a nest in a green area in the parking lot and the employees soon learned to give it a wide berth because if you got too close, one of them would come running at you making a lot of noise and threatening to bite.

Both at work and in this park, you have to be careful where you stepped because of all of the "droppings." But the reason I took this picture was to record natures impact on the constructs of man. Not only is the bank lining coming up, a retaining wall on the far bank is collapsing.

MWRD posted
The Skim Pickens was pictured along the South Branch of the Chicago River this morning near Ping Tom Park. Our trash collection boat operates along the Chicago Area Waterways from mid-April to mid-October and after significant storms year round, unless weather conditions prohibit safe operations. Two debris collection boats improve water quality and the recreational experience for thousands of people canoeing, kayaking, boating, and enjoying the waterways.
[The St. Charles Air Line Bridge has been partially up for over a year because a new overpass is being built east of this bridge.]