Open Rehearsal: The Court Theatre Blog
July 20, 2009
Borders and Fortresses
Martha Lavey asks how to make our theaters more inviting, but Hyde Park Progress asks, how do we make our neighborhood more inviting? Richard Gill speaks about the barricade at 57th Street, which prevents inbound traffic from Lake Shore Drive from cruising down one of Hyde Park’s more robust thoroughfares:
The barrier has been there for so long, nobody (including CDOT traffic engineers) seems to know exactly when or why it was put there. Looking for clues, I found that it dates to the paranoid days of “the urban renewal,” nearly 50 years ago. According to the Hyde Park Herald edition of February 1, 1961, 57th Street was closed to westbound traffic at Stony Island in September 1960. The change at that time provoked the ire of many, such as residents at 58th & Dorchester who said the one-way designation required them to drive an extra four blocks, just to get home (It still does).
Richard Gill/Hyde Park Progress
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