Promontory Point (Chicago)

The revetment was designed and constructed by Chicago Park District engineers and consists of limestone blocks arranged in a series of four steps leading to a promenade.

Alfred Caldwell, a disciple of Jens Jensen,[2] designed the landscaping, following the Prairie School which uses native plants and stone.

Caldwell's design featured a raised "meadow" section in the center of the 12-acre (49,000 m2) peninsula and included hundreds of flowering trees and shrubs.

The park is accessed by the Lakefront Trail, and a tunnel which passes under Lake Shore Drive at the east end of 55th Street.

This fountain was designed in 1939 by Elizabeth and Frederick Hibbard in the shape of a fawn, with drinking areas at human and animal levels.

[3] During the Cold War the park also housed a 150-foot (46 m) radar tower for the Nike Hercules missile defense system; it was dismantled in 1971.

The frequent summer fireworks displays at Navy Pier are often viewed from The Point, especially on Independence Day, when large numbers of Hyde Parkers and other south side residents gather there.

The water is shallow and the lake bottom is sand, making the North side a family friendly swimming area.

Recently, however, the Chicago Park District created an officially sanctioned open water swimming area off the South side of the Point.

This revetment consists of limestone blocks (with an average weight 2 to 4 tons) arranged in a series of “steps” leading down to the lake.

At the outer edge of the revetment, a series of wooden pilings, held together by a steel rail, keep the limestone blocks from tumbling into the lake.

A 1,000-foot (300 m) section of the revetment (out of approximately a 6,000-foot (1,800 m) total length) at the Northeast tip of the Point was repaired by removing the limestone blocks that form the promenade and pouring a pad of 3 feet (0.91 m) of concrete over the badly eroded crib structure.

At Promontory Point, a historic preservation treatment was agreed to and signed into public contract, and into law when the Congress approved the project, in a memorandum of agreement.

This document states that “the Corps shall consult with the SHPO (state historic preservation officer), the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District to ensure that the design and construction of the revetment will match the existing in accordance with the recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior's ‘Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation’."

As the project moved forward and was finally funded, the ACOE, the City and the CPD changed the design at Promontory Point.

Bumper stickers can be seen on many vehicles (including automobiles, bikes and skateboards) in the city reading "Save the Point."