The Chicago City Council voted unanimously on April 19 to grant Promontory Point, a historic lakefront park, “Chicago Landmark” status. The decision, which recognizes the “significance” of the Point to community members and to the history of Chicago, comes as a victory to local preservationists who have been challenging the Chicago Park District’s proposal to replace the Point’s historic limestone steps with textured concrete for nearly 23 years. The rest of Chicago’s lakefront has already been revetted with textured concrete, which the Park District has insisted will more effectively control the risk of erosion and storm damage.

Significant historic and architectural features of the Point, such as the David Wallach Fountain, council rings, and limestone steps, are now protected under the Chicago Landmark designation. Any proposed demolitions, construction, or alterations to these features by the Park District, the property owner, will be subject to a permit application and review process by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks (CCL). Trees and other plants are excluded from the list of significant features, and routine landscape maintenance will be exempt from the permit application and review process, according to the ordinance.

The fight to secure landmark status for the Point was spearheaded by Promontory Point Conservancy, a group that evolved out of the “Save the Point” campaign of the early 2000s. They have been organizing around the preservation of the Point’s historic limestone revetment since 2001. President and founder of Promontory Point Conservancy Jack Spicer said the City Council decision to landmark the Point was “a miracle.”

“Now we have a common legal language to talk about what to do in terms of fixing the revetment at the Point,” Spicer said. “If there’s such a thing as community action, this was it.”

Community members submitted nearly 600 letters in support of landmarking the Point ahead of the CCL’s January 12 decision to grant it preliminary landmark status.

“Almost everybody customized their letter to talk about what the Point means to them. All this personal devotion [to] and love for the Point just came pouring out in these 573 letters,” Debra Hammond, treasurer of Promontory Point Conservancy, said. “It was a force that had to be reckoned with—this tsunami of letters.”

Although the Point is now a “Chicago Landmark,” the fight to “Save the Point” is not over. According to Spicer, agencies like the Park District and the Army Corps of Engineers can still “twist [their words] around a little bit and do what they want to do”—including demolishing the limestone. In a previous interview, Spicer told The Maroon that “there’s plenty of room [in a landmark designation] for them to wiggle out of real preservation.”

“Everybody’s making noise about preservation, but nobody’s saying, ‘Let’s sit down at the same table and talk about this,’” Hammond agreed.

According to the Chicago Landmark Ordinance, a proposed demolition will be exempt from the permit application and review process by the CCL if it is “necessary to remedy conditions imminently dangerous to life, health, or property,” as determined by the Department of Buildings, the Chicago Board of Health, or the Chicago Fire Department.

“It’s important that the community and the local elected officials [continue to be] involved in this process, and if we’re not, we’re going to insist that we are,” Spicer said. “So, there’s still a lot of work to do, but we’re in a much better place than we’ve ever been in before.”

Hammond and Spicer also praised former Fifth Ward Alderman Leslie Hairston for supporting “Save the Point” since its inception.

“Alderman Hairston gets a huge, huge acknowledgement. She’s been standing with the community from the beginning. She can be incredibly fierce, and she has been on behalf of the Point,” Hammond said.

Hairston did not seek re-election in the 2023 municipal elections and will be succeeded by labor and community organizer Desmon Yancy. Although Yancy did not respond to The Maroon’s request for comment, he has previously expressed support for landmarking the Point. Hairston also did not respond to a request for comment.

“[Hairston] knew that the community would stand behind her,” Spicer said, “and the community knew that she would stand behind them.”

In January, the city committed $5 million to the planning and design of revetment reinforcements that will reduce erosion and storm damage along the Point while “preserving the historic nature of the existing structure.”

“The design will be shared with the community through a public meeting process,” according to the report.

Promontory Point, located close to UChicago’s campus, is often visited by UChicago students. Third-year Isabel Sobolewski said that she feels “excited and relieved” now that the Point is a Chicago Landmark.

“I run along the Point every day,” she said. “I love sitting on the steps after my runs and just people watching or looking out at the lake. Being at the Point—whether I’m running there or just hanging out—always brings my heart rate down a little bit and makes me feel so much calmer.”

“The Point is a place where I can connect with nature and feel a part of a community,” first-year Jazmin Mendez said. “Taking [the Point] away would have a bigger impact on the Hyde Park community than people might think.”