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WOODLAWN — Preservation Chicago’s first neighborhood walking tour of the year will wind through Jackson Park and Woodlawn on Saturday.
The tour begins in Jackson Park, highlighting features “most being threatened with plans for the Obama Presidential Center,” said Mary Lu Seidel, director of community engagement for Preservation Chicago.
Participants will meet up at the Women’s Garden (between 59th and 60th and just east of Stony Island and the Midway) around 8:30 a.m. From there, the tour will visit the future Obama Center site, Wooded Island and other gems in Jackson Park.
After leaving the park, walkers will head down the Midway Plaisance toward Woodlawn landmarks like Emmett Till’s home and school, the soon-to-be-demolished Washington Park National Bank and the historic Shrine of Christ the King church.
Preservation Chicago has been involved with most of the tour stops to some degree, Seidel said.
Some buildings, like the Washington Park bank, have appeared on its annual lists of Chicago’s most endangered buildings. Others, like Shrine of Christ the King, have benefited from the organization’s work.
“We want to be sure that our tours are covering the full spectrum of history of Woodlawn,”she said.
The Woodlawn walk comes after a previous attempt along Record Row was rained out. The Record Row walk was rescheduled for Sunday.
The walks are a way to get people “to see more of what they might miss when they stay on Lake Shore Drive or the highway,” Seidel said.
For more information, email Seidel at mseidel@preservationchicago.org.
