HR0863 LRB094 19216 HSS 55055 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Friends of the Parks has selected Leon M. (Len)
3 Despres to receive the 2005 lifetime achievement award for his
4 leadership as a parks protector for nearly seven decades; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Len Despres was elected to the Chicago City
6 Council in 1955 to represent Hyde Park as 5th ward alderman; as
7 an alderman, he pressed for the equal distribution of park
8 resources, programming, and tax dollars to all communities in
9 Chicago; he fought for the preservation of park land in his
10 beloved Jackson Park, preventing the construction of a highway
11 through the park, which led to the adoption in 1973 of the
12 Lakefront Protection Ordinance; and
 
13     WHEREAS, In May of 2005, his memoir, Challenging the Daley
14 Machine: A Chicago Alderman's Memoir, was published by
15 Northwestern University Press; the writing is a recount of his
16 experiences as an independent alderman, a defender of civil and
17 human rights in an era of turmoil; he faced many defeats, yet
18 he fought on relentlessly, eventually winning one major issue
19 after another, issues ranging from the sale of driveway permits
20 to saving Chicago's historic buildings to fighting against
21 racial discrimination; and
 
22     WHEREAS, He was instrumental in seeing the city's first
23 Landmarks Preservation ordinance enacted, helping to position
24 several of Chicago's parks as landmarks; he led the legal
25 challenge to appeal the Chicago Plan Commission's approval of
26 an above-ground theatre in Jackson Park; and
 
27     WHEREAS, After leaving the City Council, Len Despres
28 continued his staunch support of the Coalition to Save the
29 South Shore Country Club as a 60-acre lakefront park; he co-led
30 the legal effort with Friends of the Parks to keep Soldier
31 Field as an historic landmark; and
 

 

 

HR0863 - 2 - LRB094 19216 HSS 55055 r

1     WHEREAS, He has served as a member of the Board of
2 Directors of Friends of the Parks for over 20 years, providing
3 invaluable assistance on countless issues that affect the
4 Public Trust Doctrine of the State of Illinois; and
 
5     WHEREAS, He has been recognized for his life of service by
6 earning the prestigious Benton Medal from the University of
7 Chicago, the Distinguished Service Award from the Phi Beta
8 Kappa Association of the Chicagoland Area, and last year, the
9 Hyde Park Historical Society established the annual Marian and
10 Leon Despres Preservation Award in their honor, and he and his
11 wife, Marian, were the first recipients of the award;
12 therefore, be it
 
13     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
14 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
15 we congratulate Leon M. Despres on being chosen as the Friends
16 of the Parks' 2005 recipient of the Lifetime Commitment to
17 Parks Award, and we applaud his tireless efforts to improve and
18 preserve Chicago's lakefront and neighborhood parks; and be it
19 further
 
20     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
21 presented to the Honorable Leon M. Despres as an expression of
22 our esteem.