As reported first by (who else?) Michael Sneed, Former Chicago Mayor Jane M. Byrne passed away today. I just drove through her highway interchange yesterday and was thinking that it’s an odd thing to name places like that after people.
When she died, I lamented that there was no natural (safe) place to gather in her honor, if anyone was so inclined. Chicago sage Andrew Huff was pretty certain that I was wrong, and it turns out I was.
There were three great places— all of which harken back to the projects she worked on and the places she loved— named after our former mayor this year:
- International terminal at Chicago O’Hare International Airport
- Plaza where Old Chicago Water Tower structure is located
- Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier
I found them all in the legislation lookup tool maintained by the Chicago City Clerk— it’s a great resource; it has everything.
Here’s the paper copies of the legislation. I love all the lawmaker signatures. These things matter.
The only other place that might be appropriate would be where she lived for a while— the former Cabrini-Green apartment building where she lived for three weeks. One day at a time.
