Join US FOR EARTH DAY 2023! The Lincoln Park Conservancy and our partners at the Chicago Park District and Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum are planning a day of activities on Saturday, April 22nd to celebrate Earth Day. Activities will run throughout the day, so bring......
by Doug Widener It’s gone! By it we mean the big metal box at the north end of North Pond that was installed last fall to cover mechanical equipment. After much anticipation and many requests, the box has been replaced by a more appropriate and esthetically......
by Doug Widener Happy New Year! Since there are two days left in 2023’s first month, we still have time to wish you a bright year ahead. As we ramp into to 2023, we’re excited to put the finishing touches on North Pond’s restoration later......
Dear Friends, We are so excited by the positive changes to North Pond over this past season. One big change is the dredging of the Pond to nearly 10 feet in the northern section. As a reminder, skating or walking on the ice is never......
North Pond Restoration Update – December 2023 by Doug Widener While the weather turns cold this fall and winter, the North Pond Restoration Update has moved to a monthly format. While work has definitely slowed from its pace this spring and summer, the contractors are......
by Doug Widener Welcome to the first monthly edition of our North Pond Restoration blog. We will maintain a monthly format over the winter and return to weekly updates in April when spring planting of North Pond’s shoreline with trees, shrubs, and native plants will......
by Doug Widener Happy Friday! This blog marks our last weekly update for the North Pond Restoration Project for the season. Debuting next week and the first Friday of every month through next winter will be a monthly project update. While there is still work......
by Doug Widener As we approach substantial completion of the North Pond Restoration Project next month, I’d like the final blog or two to focus on some common questions asked. I’ll start with a few most timely and frequent ones here. Please send others in......
by Doug Widener Change is in the air. It definitely feels like fall outside as nature puts on one last great show of color before nestling down for winter. Changes are also afoot at North Pond in response to much appreciated community input. First, we hope many......
With the upcoming Chicago Marathon taking front stage throughout the city this weekend, including Lincoln Park, signs of its approach can be seen in the temporary sawhorses and barricades dotting various street corners. I’m happy to report that other neighborhood barricades—the fencing at North Pond......
by Doug Widener Adaptive Management. It’s a term used for analyzing and using data over time to make changes in a management approach or decision. Historically, it has been used in complex environmental projects to measure impacts and analyze data which then informs future decisions. We......
by Doug Widener What’s Your North Pond story? All of us who visit and love North Pond have at least one special memory, favorite place, or cherished activity inspired by this gem of nature in our fair city. I know I have plenty. As work at......
by Doug Widener I’m running out of things to say. For folks that know me, that never happens. And in truth, I have plenty to report this week, but as the North Pond Restoration Project winds down this fall, the pieces are falling into place......
by Doug Widener As baseball season heads towards home and the playoffs, North Pond’s restoration is also in the home stretch. Installation of permanent fencing along certain portions of the pond began today. In addition, temporary fencing to protect new (and soon-to-be planted) native plants and trees will be......
by Doug Widener Welcome to September! Let’s start this week’s blog with the shiny silver elephant in the room (more accurately, at the Pond): rest assured, it’s going away. I am sure those who have seen it are cheering this news as am I. Throughout North......
by Doug Widener As the North Pond restoration moves toward completion, you will see some new features added around and near the pond. Of prime interest to us human visitors, we’ve begun to install a series of limestone outcroppings along the shoreline that will provide......
By Doug Widener The Air and Water Show isn’t the only activity that has Lincoln Park bustling today. The work at North Pond, while not as captivating as the practice runs being conducted as I write, is certainly varied and robust the past few days.......
by Doug Widener Today was a great day at North Pond. Now that the major work in the Pond is complete, we are excited to begin to restore the habitat for the hundreds of plants and animals that call the Pond home. The project team met......
by Doug Widener It’s a Pond again. I started last week’s blog in a similar vein, I know. Repetitive though it may be, I just came from a walk around the Pond before sitting down to write this and that’s what hit me first. The......
by Doug Widener North Pond is looking like a Pond again! While a few folks (geese and ducks, too) may miss the temporary land-bridge that was used for the Pond’s dredging operations, I am sure I speak for most of us in saying that it......
by Doug Widener This week was a slow one for work at North Pond, but we are still significantly ahead of schedule. This week’s slowdown was intentional to switch gears and coordinate the installation of new drainage systems to collect stormwater north and east of......
By Doug Widener So, why the fence??! So, you noticed the fence? That is a silly question; it’s hard to miss. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, installation of fencing north of the pond to the Divvy bike station happened this week. Thank......
By Doug Widener Trucking operations for the deepest part of the North Pond dredge continue. If work progresses at pace, we hope to complete the major earthmoving operations and dredging by mid-July. This will come as a welcome relief to everyone who loves the park......
By Doug Widener The Dog Days of Summer aren’t here just yet. In fact, summer only officially started last week, but recent heat and lack of rain has me feeling like it’s full-blown summer. It feels that way around North Pond too, with low water......
North Pond Dredge Heats Up in June Heat by Doug Widener With this week’s heat wave, dredging activity at North Pond also heated up and is ahead of schedule. Dredging is complete from the historic casting pier on the south to the widest portion of......
By Doug Widener Dredging activity is in full swing as a part of North Pond’s restoration. Work began last week around the historic casting pier and progressed this week mid-way through the Pond. Sediment is......
“Ecological restoration is like surgery,” an avid birder shared with me as I stood with her and her fellow birders who walk North Pond each Wednesday morning, discussing the North Pond Restoration Project. “It’s painful, ugly, and it takes time to heal. But when it......
By Doug Widener While mobilization and site prep has been in process for several weeks, this is the first week that North Pond looks different, and you can tell that work has really begun. Removal of selective dead or dying trees on the Pond’s shoreline......
As North Pond’s restoration begins this spring, local news outlets are helping to spread the word. Visit the links below for a sampling of recent press about this important Lincoln Park improvement project, spearheaded by the Lincoln Park Conservancy: WBEZ Reset, 4/28/22: $7.3 million effort......
Photos ©KathyRichlandPhoto After three years of hard work, grassroots fundraising and due diligence, the Lincoln Park Conservancy is poised to start work on the North Pond Restoration Project. A virtual public meeting with the Conservancy, Chicago Park District, project contractors and design......
