- Credibility:
BRONZEVILLE — The Bronzeville Trail Task Force is marking Celebrate Trails Day with a block party Saturday.
The free event is 11 a.m-3 p.m. Saturday at 3900 S. Federal St. Attendees will be updated on the trail’s progress, with consultants from the Smith Group on hand to answer questions.
There will be hot dogs, burgers and chips, along with food vendors.
Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) will be a special guest. The event was previously scheduled for April 22 and billed as a cleanup to celebrate Earth Day, but organizers had to postpone due to weather.
Task force member David Ali said he and other organizers cleaned the area last weekend ahead of Saturday’s event.
The task force is leading the charge to redevelop a 2-mile stretch of abandoned railway into a walking and biking trail. It would start near 40th and Dearborn streets and go to 41st Street and Lake Park Avenue.
The all-volunteer group — made up of local leaders, artists and historians — has hosted open houses and fundraisers to drum up community interest, recently launching its Major Taylor initiative to honor the country’s first Black professional cyclist.
Task force members will travel next week to meet with officials in Paris to discuss best practices. Leaders there converted an abandoned railway into an elevated walking path, the Promenade Plantee (or the Coulée verte René-Dumont) in 1993.
For more information about the Bronzeville Trail, go to its website.
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