Construction to Begin on Studio Gang’s Ambitious Northerly Island Park in Chicago

In 2010, when <a href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=studio+gang">Studio Gang Architects</a> and landscape architects <a href="http://www.smithgroupjjr.com/">Smithgroup JJR</a> released plans for the redevelopment of Northerly Island in Chicago, it was generally viewed as a very long-term project. Now, less than two years later, The Chicago Park District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are teaming up to launch phase one of the ambitious plan. Studio Gang's plan calls for transforming the 91-acre peninsula, which served as a small airstrip as recently as 2003, into a vibrant nature preserve surrounded by wetlands.

On the north end of the park, a large concert venue would be built into a hillside.

A new shoreline would be built to create new wetlands and fish habitats, and a ship would be sunk near the shore for divers to explore.

Studio Gang and JJR plan to radically transform the space into the city's next great park.

The plan also takes winter into account (winter is of course an unavoidable fact of life in Chicago) with the inclusion of an ice skating rink.

"It's almost like a Millennium Park of nature," architect Jeanne Gang told the Chicago Tribune in 2010, alluding to the enormously successful park and concert venue in downtown Chicago.

With $6.65 million in funding from two federal grants and $1.5 million of the Chicago Park District's money, work will begin this fall on the south and east sides of the park.