Sep 25, 2007 9:16 am US/Central
Mayor To Meet With Aldermen Who Oppose Museum Move
Daley Also Tones Down Claims That Racism Was Reason For Opposing Relocation
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Mayor Richard M. Daley says he will meet with aldermen who oppose moving the Chicago Children's Museum to Grant Park, but he is not ready to back down.
"What is wrong next to Millennium Park?" Mayor Daley said on Monday. "I don't understand that; families come down there. Just go over there now. You see families. They're not destroying the park Children aren't destroying the park."
But the mayor has been softening his position that racial bias was the real reason people were opposing the move.
The museum's board president believes that the move is critical and she agrees that the opposition appears to be racially motivated.
But Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) said last week he does not support the museum's move because he believes it would violate the city's mandate to keep Grant Park open and clear for all. He said what later became Grant Park was declared "forever open, clear and free" in 1836, a vision that was upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court at the turn of the last century after department store magnate Montgomery Ward sued to ensure nothing would be built in the park.
Some residents near Grant Park are concerned that the new museum will push them out and they are angry that their concerns are being overshadowed by accusations of racism.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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