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[Southsider2k12]

For those who haven't gotten up to the lakefront this year, I took some pictures up there to see how the progress was going on both of these things.

The Oasis Splash Pad looks like it held up well in my very non-professional opinion. I saw no cracks of any kind in the concrete up there, so hopefully that means we get to see it open on the May/June schedule they were hoping for last year.

The Foreman Amphitheater looks like it is coming along nicely. Some things that jumped out at me were the new handicapped accessible ramp that was installed to enter the stage, and the walkway that was put in down the grassy section above the seating area. The new work looks nice to me.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=pr...3874&ref=mf

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...86493958217.txt

Amphitheater

Handicapped ramp cuts hillside
Published: Friday, April 23, 2010 4:14 AM CDT
Editorial

The Issue:

Could the outdoor concert site be made accessible less obtrusively?

Our Opinion:

The design is unsettling. More public input might have helped.

The wheelchair ramp built at the revamped Guy F. Foreman Amphitheater in Washington Park has stirred controversy, which is no surprise, since it radically changes the grassy hillside that faces this outdoor concert stage.

Bernie Scott, who founded the very successful Smooth Jazz at South Shore annual concert there, is upset because the sidewalk, with its S curve crossing back and forth across the main seating area, will reduce the number of seats. He says the redesign will cost the concert 1,000 seats, but Park Superintendent Jan Orlich says that number is wildly exaggerated.

Orlich explained the design, saying the slope was too steep for a direct wheelchair ramp from the parking area to the stage. And that may be. And while the Parks Department and Park Board legally must consider accessibility for the disabled when redesigning structures, a number of questions emerge.

For whatever reason, few people outside the Parks Department seemed to be aware that the new design would transform the hillside so much. It may have been the responsibility of the public, including Scott, to be aware of the redesign before the Park Board approved it. And while the Smooth Jazz concert is but one event per year, it is a huge event and it would have been wise of the planners of this facility to get some input from the Smooth Jazz people.

The ramp may make the front of the stage more accessible to disabled people, but it may also interfere with those who like sitting on the lawn to enjoy a concert, and the curbing at the edge of the walk could pose a hazard to those walking the hillside in the dark.

Third, couldn’t another design have accomplished making the amphitheater accessible without the ramp going back and forth across the hillside?

As City Councilman Bob McKee put it, “I don’t view it as a total disaster.” No, not a “total” disaster, but certainly unsettling.