By Tom Tunney
Special to Inside
My primary concerns in relation to revitalization of the revetment between Belmont and Diversey are:
1) Preservation of the aesthetic beauty and structural integrity of this valuable lakefront area,
2) Accessibility to the lake and lakefront park areas, and
3) Safety of the public.
In order to gather the community's feelings on various aspects of the Belmont to Diversey portion of the revetment project, I organized an open community forum on March 6. I have had a number of follow-up meetings since then with individuals who have offered additional ideas and expressed their concerns about the project. I have communicated these suggestions and concerns to the city and to the Army Corps of Engineers.
I have recently received confirmation from the city that their plan will now incorporate many of the community's suggestions and address many of our concerns.
The design for the revetment has been revised with community input. The revised design will incorporate many of the community-suggested "user-friendly" features and it will differ from the revetment installed north of Belmont in several important ways and address our suggestions and concerns in the following ways:
XXXPreservation of Aesthetic Beauty and Structural IntegrityXXX
—The elevation of the revetment section south of Belmont will be 1 1/2 feet lower than the height of the revetment north of Belmont. The city and Army Corps of Engineers have determined that this section does not need to be as high as sections farther north because of less severe wave conditions along the Belmont to Diversey section that do not require a higher "wave deflection" wall.
—Landscaping will meet the top of the revetment on the park side, which will allow a natural shore-to-lake transition, maximize the vistas of the lake from the shoreline, and minimize visibility of the revetment structure.
—The plan will require strict protection of existing trees along the project area.
—The revetment will minimize individual step heights to a constant 20 inches, less than the originally proposed 30 inches.
—The structure will incorporate re-use, to the fullest extent possible, of existing limestone rocks.
—The plan will address drainage problems in the parkland behind the rocks that have caused frequent flooding.
—I have initiated a discussion with the community about the creation of a memorial garden in the park adjacent to the Belmont Rocks. This garden can serve as a place of beauty and reflection and a place to commemorate the important role that the Belmont Rocks have played in the lives of so many Lakeview residents. It also may incorporate some of the existing rocks and preserve some of the "art work" left at the rocks over many years.
—In order to make the area around the former gun club safe and usable for the public, the city plan will provide additional landfill in this area. This will be a significant benefit to our Lakeview area beachfront. It will create between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 acres of new lakefront lands.
XXXSafetyXXX
—I strongly believe that the lakefront and parklands must be safe for all who use them. The revised city plan will add safety ladders at regular intervals to allow easier egress between shore and water. These will be painted yellow to ensure increased safety and enhanced visibility. The revetment will rectify major safety hazards that exist along the current sea wall by:
----replacing sections of the current rocks that are unstable and unsafe for people to walk along them.
----restoring stability where large sections of the rocks, or the foundations beneath them, have collapsed, or where wave action over the years has created dangerous caverns under the rocks.
----eliminating hazards caused by the numerous and large gaps and holes that exist in long sections of the rocks that make walking along them dangerous for many.
----reinforcing the stability and enhancing the usefulness of the parkland behind the sea wall. Currently, large areas of parkland behind the rocks are threatened or left unprotected because of gaps that have developed between rocks because of cave-ins. Years of flooding has washed out topsoil and created sink holes under some of the parkland behind the rocks.
----eliminating fallen rocks and semi-submerged debris in the water adjacent to the rocks. This will reduce hazards for people (and their pets) who enjoy recreation in these areas.
XXXAccessibilityXXX
—The revetment and the paths to it will provide universal access with an even grade of the revetment to the shoreline.
—The revised plan will nearly triple the portion of the Belmont-Diversey shoreline that consists of people-friendly, raised-stone "toe berms." These will add a more seamless and synergistic visual and physical transition from the shore, to the revetment, and to the lake and increase direct lake access for the public.
—The revised plan will relocate paths going to the rocks in a manner that preserves maximum park recreational space and uses alternate, natural materials as much as possible.
—The construction projects will be phased to minimize the work area and to maximize the amount of park space available for public use.
—Additional ramps will also be installed that are consistent with ADA requirements.
XXXAnimate/ARUP alternative proposalXXX
[At the March 6 meeting, Nancy Hamilton of the worldwide engineering firm ARUP presented a plan for a wavy natural shoreline revetment made of reinforced and linked concrete blocks tiered toward the waterline with no steel sheeting.]
As requested at the community meeting, Joseph Lambke of Animate/ARUP sent my office additional information about the feasibility of the preliminary design which they presented as an alternative to the current Army Corps of Engineers design. In their most recent materials, Animate/ARUP has acknowledged some issues which their plan may not currently resolve, including:
1. The ARUP plan would still use concrete, pre-cast blocks, rather than reuse existing limestone.
2. Their documentation acknowledges that poor ground conditions along the Belmont rocks may not support the weight of their concrete blocks and that those blocks may "settle" in unpredictable ways in the future. This increases the risk of the blocks cracking as they settle.
3. Since the parkland adjacent to the Belmont rocks is landfill, their approach may be more likely to disturb any possible contaminated materials in the landfill than the current plan.
4. Heavy plant and equipment would be required under the ARUP plan to lift the concrete blocks into position.
5. The ARUP plan would require that gaps be left between the concrete blocks to allow them to settle better. While this may allow the blocks to appear more natural, it might also cause significant problems for individuals to walk along the shoreline.
6. The ARUP plan also would require dumping of rock in front of their toe-berms to protect these berms from wave action. This would both separate their revetment from the lake and decrease direct public access to the water.
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