Jean Baptiste Point DuSable: How Chicago plans to honor city's founding father

Chicago City Council approved renaming of Lake Shore Drive after a Black man considered by many to be the founder of Chicago

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Monday, June 28, 2021
How Chicago plans to continue honoring city's founding father
How Chicago plans to continue honoring city's founding fatherRenaming Lake Shore Drive after Jean Baptiste Point DuSable is a mission accomplished, but other tributes are also in the works.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- We now know that the DuSable name will be added to the outer portion of Lake Shore Drive, but where do other proposals stand to honor the man who first settled in Chicago?

Renaming Lake Shore Drive after Jean Baptiste Point DuSable is a mission accomplished, but other tributes to the first non-Indigenous settler of Chicago are also in the works.

RELATED: Lake Shore Drive renamed to honor Jean Baptiste Point DuSable

Peggy Montes is hoping a plan to develop a section of reclaimed land along the lakefront, called DuSable Park, will gather momentum.

"We've had so many ups and downs in terms of the developing of that park, and so, don't you think it's a better time right now that we complete this," Montes said.

Montes is on the DuSable Park advisory council, the organization that oversees the land that was dedicated by the late Mayor Harold Washington 34 years ago.

"We are here to finish the legacy of Harold Washington to build DuSable Park and have it as a place to show the people about the contributions that Jean Baptist Point DuSable made," she added.

Montes said she is encouraged by a plan to invest $40 million to develop DuSable Park, to create the DuSable Riverwalk and to establish year round programming.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday that she is committed to tributes to Chicago's founding father.

"I really think it's important, not just to have a name out there. We've gotta teach our residents, and particularly our young people, about the history of Chicago," the mayor said.

Mayor Lightfoot said specific plans to honor DuSable will be heard soon in city council with votes possibly taking place by September.

The video featured is form a previous report.

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