Burnham Plan Centennial

In 1909, Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett collaborated with the Commercial Club of Chicago to create the historic Plan of Chicago, a bold new vision for the region. One hundred years later, Openlands joined forces with the Burnham Plan Centennial Committee to advance Green Legacy Projects throughout the region that build on Burnham’s innovative thinking and foresight.

Part of the Burnham Plan Centennial, which celebrated the big dreams that led to the city’s sweeping lakefront and a tradition of thinking comprehensively about the area’s continued development, these projects include:

Englewood Open Space Plan & New ERA Trail

The new Open Space Plan for Chicago’s Englewood community envisions the creation of new open space resources for recreation, health, beautification, and economic development. The plan is an outgrowth and expansion of a broader Quality of Life Plan developed with support from the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC). Among other improvements, the open space plan calls for the creation of a two-mile linear park and trail utilizing an elevated abandoned rail corridor. Deemed the New ERA (Englewood Remaking America) Trail, it is intended to provide safe neighborhood transportation, connect two urban farms, and provide access to new planned shopping opportunities. Also proposed are new community gardens, including the Heritage Station garden and mural, at 63rd and Parnell, celebrating the community's history as an important rail junction.

The Burnham Plan Centennial celebrates the completion of a detailed implementation program for open space in Englewood, including completion of a feasibility analysis for the linear trail and installation of new urban gardens. Part of Openlands’ Neighborhood Open Space Planning initiatives, this plan and others like it establish a meaningful voice in the local decision-making process and positively impact community goals, such as affordable high-quality housing, improved schools, healthy local businesses, and public safety.

Burnham Plan Centennial partners in this project include the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) and community partners: Teamwork Englewood, Greater Englewood Community and Family Task Force, Greater Englewood Gardening Association, and Stay Environmentally Focusd'.

Funding for the Englewood Open Space Plan Implementation/New ERA Trail has been generously provided by the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation and Exelon Foundation.

Openlands Lakeshore Preserve

Located just twenty-five miles north of Chicago, the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve will present a rare opportunity to visit one of the last remaining ravine and bluff ecosystems in the metropolitan region.

The preserve is located at the southern half of a two-mile stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline, made available by the decommissioning of Fort Sheridan, in Lake County. The northern half was transferred to the Lake County Forest Preserve District in the 1990s; the southern half was transferred to Openlands in 2006. Scientific studies of the hydrology, ecology, and geology of the site have been conducted as the basis for the preserve’s Action Plan.

With a $4 million grant from the Grand Victoria Foundation, careful restoration of environmentally rich areas is already underway. An innovative interpretive plan will enable visitors to experience Lake Michigan shoreline and extraordinary ravine habitat when a portion of the preserve opens to the public this fall as part of the Burnham Plan Centennial.

Click on the links below to learn more about the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve’s rich history and exciting transformation:

• Natural History & Geology
• Early Settlers: Pre-1880s
• Recent History: 1889 to 1995
• Land Transfer to Openlands 

Northeastern Illinois Regional Water Trails Plan

The Northeastern Illinois Regional Water Trail Plan, co-authored by Openlands, the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC), and the Illinois Paddling Council, establishes a framework for non-motorized boating on our region’s waterways. With generous funding from the Grand Victoria Foundation, Openlands and other partners have identified locations for launch sites, applied for funding for acquisition and construction, and developed signage to complete this 500-mile water trail system.

Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge

Creating a new national wildlife refuge of up to 10,000 acres spanning the Illinois-Wisconsin state line in the rapidly developing northwest part of the metropolitan area would dramatically advance the Green Legacy goal of preserving regionally significant open space. This bi-state area is home to a dramatic glacial landscape and to an extraordinary collection of diverse aquatic and terrestrial communities, The Hackmatack project in northern McHenry County, Illinois and southern Walworth County, Wisconsin would protect for future generations a wildlife refuge, and would also strategically link with existing preserves and trail connections.

The hope is that the two neighboring states will approach the U.S. Department of the Interior and request national wildlife refuge designation for Hackmatack. Openlands and the Trust for Public Land have been guiding the process of acquiring an ecologically critical parcel and engaging local and state leadership. A feasibility study considering Hack-ma-tack’s recreational, biological, and economic development potential is already underway.

Support for the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge has been generously provided by the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.