BOYSTOWN — Creators of the rainbow-striped corridor at the heart of Boystown are paving the way for more LGBT recognition in Chicago.
The organizers of Pride Fest and Boystown's Legacy Walk are teaming up to establish a permanent museum and visitor's center on North Halsted Street, the neighborhood's main artery.
Since 2012, The Legacy Walk has placed plaques along Halsted Street honoring 35 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer icons.
Reporter Ariel Cheung on the proposed museum on North Halsted.
While the idea was pitched back in 1998, when the city erected the rainbow pylons, it took about 14 years to come to fruition.
The Legacy Walk regularly adds a few more bronze plaques, which detail achievements and life stories of inductees of the Chicago-based Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. The Legacy Project also oversees a youth education program and traveling installation.
Legacy Project founder Victor Salvo will join the Northalsted Business Alliance as the full-time project director and will oversee the joint efforts to open the center, dedicated to tourism and cultural programming.
The business alliance was able to pay for Salvo's newly created position with the help of grants, tour revenue and special events, spokeswoman Jennifer Gordon said.
The collaboration is the first step in creating the museum and visitors center, Gordon said. A location has not been selected, although organizers insist it will be on Halsted Street.
Each rainbow pylon has a bronze plaque detailing the life and contributions of inductees. [DNAinfo/Ariel Cheung]
Some impetus for the museum came from the simple fact that The Legacy Walk is running out of room. Of 37 total slots, all but two are now dedicated with bronze plaques, according to The Legacy Project.
Once the walk reaches capacity, the oldest plaques — dedicated in 2012 — will rotate off the walk and into the visitor's center.
The two organizations are "both seeking to ensure that Boystown remains an equally economically and culturally vibrant neighborhood," said Christopher Barrett Politan, Northalsted Business Alliance executive director. "Together, we have the opportunity to build a brilliant future for Boystown."
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