Burnham Plan Centennial Announcements Advance Region's Lasting Green Legacy

CHICAGO, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Burnham Plan Centennial
Committee announced several significant new developments designed to expand
the region's open space and increase public access to natural areas. The
announcements will be made at Our Green Metropolis: The Next 100 Years, a
Burnham Plan Centennial event today at 6:00 p.m. at the Spertus Institute's
Feinberg Auditorium, 610 S. Michigan Ave. Among the notable announcements:

-- Last 4 Miles of Chicago Lakefront: Legislation to transfer unused
International Port District Land on Chicago's south side to the
Chicago
Park District will begin the process of opening the last 4 miles of
Chicago lakefront up to public access and add 91 acres of land to the
Calumet Open Space Reserve. Sponsors are State Representative Marlow
Colvin and State Senator John Cullerton.
-- New Wildlife Refuge: A formal request by Governor Patrick Quinn to the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service begins a process that will ultimately
establish the Hack-ma-tack National Wildlife Refuge, a new wildlife
preserve on 10,000 acres of protected land in northeastern Illinois
and
southeastern Wisconsin.
-- Critical Bike Route Link: A partnership between ComEd and the Illinois
Department of Natural Resources to develop recreational green space on
a
one-mile segment of the Burnham Greenway gap will be executed in the
next few weeks. The Burnham Greenway Gap is the missing link in a set
of
trails that link Chicago's lakefront to the Mississippi River and to
cross border trails in Indiana and Wisconsin.
-- Access to National Tall Grass Prairie: The selection of a Chicago
design
firm -- Wheeler Kearns -- to create a new Prairie Learning Center at
the
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie provide the public with new access
to
this 19,000-acre site, the largest preserve in northeastern Illinois.

-- Preservation of More Open Space. A commitment by Chicago Wilderness to
protect 1.8 million acres of open space by the year 2060.

"Our region's interconnected network of open spaces and natural areas --
greenways and trails, wetlands, parks and forest preserves -- link communities
across our region from southeastern Wisconsin through Illinois to northwestern
Indiana. But, like Daniel Burnham a century ago, we stand at a turning point
in our region's history," said George Ranney, who is co-chair of the Burnham
Plan Centennial Committee with John Bryan, and also is President and CEO,
Chicago Metropolis 2020.

"We have to move much more aggressively throughout the region. We need to set
more ambitious goals, with firm deadlines to complete the work of safeguarding
the natural network -- the green infrastructure -- comprised of our woods and
open spaces, savannas and river banks, streams and urban forests. I think we
have been dawdling too much, and time is against us not for us," Ranney told
the gathering.

The five announcements are among 21 Green Legacy Projects identified by the
Burnham Plan Centennial Committee and Openlands as closing gaps in the
region's "green infrastructure." All held events or made significant progress
during the Burnham Centennial year.

"We commend the Burnham Plan Centennial and Openlands for the significant
progress they have made to advance Daniel Burnham's vision for improving the
quality of life for Chicago-area residents," said Steve Solomon, president of
the Exelon Foundation, environmental sponsor of the Burnham Plan Centennial.
"The Green Legacy projects support the Exelon Foundation's goals of
encouraging respect for the environment and strengthening the social and
economic fabric of the communities Exelon's operating companies serve."

The year 2009 is the 100th anniversary of the publication of Daniel Burnham's
and Edward Bennett's "Plan of Chicago," one of the world's first and most
visible comprehensive regional plans. Burnham's admonition to "make no little
plans" has been a guiding principle for Chicago and for generations of
planners and builders in cities around the globe. One hundred years later, the
Burnham Plan still inspires the region to be visionary, think regionally,
recognize the value of beauty and conservation, and act deliberately to turn
our plans into reality for the benefit of all the people of the region.

More than 250 Partners including museums, professional associations, civic and
community organizations, educational institutions and others are collaborating
to develop programs that will shape the Centennial and engage a broad
audience. For more information, please visit the website at:
http://burnhamplan100.uchicago.edu/.

The Exelon Foundation is the Burnham Plan Centennial Presenting Sponsor for
the Environment. Additional support for green legacy initiatives was provided
by the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Hamill Family Foundation and
Northern Trust. Leadership funding for the Burnham Plan Centennial was
provided by The Chicago Community Trust, our region's community foundation.
The Trust is joined as a Burnham Plan Centennial Founding Sponsor by The
Elizabeth Morse and Elizabeth Morse Genius Charitable Trusts.

SOURCE Burnham Plan Centennial

Valerie Denney, Valerie Denney Communications, +1-312-408-2580 x11,
+1-312-320-2162, for Burnham Plan Centennial