HYDE PARK — Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) has shot down plans for a “big old mailbox”-shaped Segway kiosk for Harold Washington Park.
Hairston said Tuesday at her monthly ward meeting at Parkside Community Academy, 6938 S. East End Ave., that she had said no to the project because it would have blocked views of the lake at the entrance to the park and just looked too weird.
She said the Chicago Park District was proposing moving the Segway kiosk from Millennium Park to Harold Washington Park and installing it at the southern end of the park at 53rd Street and Hyde Park Boulevard.
“That’s the entrance to the park with views of the lake, and it would be blocked by a big old mailbox,” Hairston said.
She said the kiosk would take away the chess tables and space that had until last year been used for a farmers market.
“I’m still not going to say yes, but I wanted to bring it to you all,” Hairston told the two dozen constituents at the meeting.
She said the Park District still was pushing for the kiosk in the park, but Park District officials said late Tuesday night that it had gotten the message.
“Ald. Hairston ask that the vendor not be located at that park,” said Jessica Maxey-Faulkner, a spokeswoman for the Park District. “We are working to find an alternate location.”
The audience at the meeting was unanimously vocal in its agreement with Hairston that the kiosk was inappropriate for such a prime spot in the park.
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