The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-08-09
A STORY o. s6oo.ooo.ooo
True Inwardness Of the Chicago Lake
Front Fight for the Worlds Fair

TeSenIS the value OF tne property IN tie lake
I front controversy, which is as yet q factor
in Worlds Fair circles.
Il Is now possible for the first time 10
make public little of the secret history of
the local complications which have retarded
and embarrassed the work Of the Worlds
I Fair directors The country at large has
been no more mysti fed than have the people
! OF Chicago, many Of whom have consid-
| cred themselves on the inside
! The propOunding Of the question: ''Shall
the lake front be used as the site or a part
/ Of the site Of the worlds fairF' brought into
( existence a condition Of affairs at once
/ startling and novel II created a problem
the solution Of which was freighted with
possibilities Of destruction, exceeding in
| enormity the losses sustained in the ever
memorable fire which desOlated Chicago
nineteen years ago. Few of the citizens of
Chicago are even slightly acquainted with
! the facts. Few realize how narrowly Chi
| cago has escaped losing the Columbian ex-
| position, which was secured after 50 deter
mined an effort.
Es"Sooner than place in the hands of the
city council Of Chicago the disposition of
the go acres of land 1t is proposed TO re-
claim fIom the lake, the board of directors
viii bury the Columbian exposition so deep
that Gabr1eps trumpet will not reach il on
the resurrection morning."
The above is the exact language used by
one of the most Influential If the local board
OF directors. At the time this statement
was made there was imminent danger that
the lake front could be used only on the
condition that the newly created land
would revert back 70 the city of Chicago at
the close of the exposition, subject to the
undisPuted control Of her city council.
Briefly stated, the question thus presented
itself to the board Of directors of the COlum-
bian exposition: They had offered TO the
A. JaI 81.
consisting of the lake front and jackson
park. The lake front, as it now stands,
contains about seventy acres OF ground
The title to this land is in dispute, and has
been for years. The Illinois Central road
| claims certain rights, and is prepared to de.
fend them at all costs. The Worlds fair
directory proposed 10 fill in go acres of
Lake Michigan, on which,were toIoe erected
many OF the buildings Of the great expo.l-
| ton. They proposed that, after the fair,
| this land, together with the seventy
acres now forming the lake
front, should be placed at the
disposition of the South park commission
ers. and converted by them into a magnifi-
cent breathing place in the heart Of the
| city. The city council refused to accept
this proposition, and insisted that the lake
should be filled in only on condition that
the land thus acquired should revert to the
| city Of Chicago, subject to the alb solute
control and disposition of her city council
The acceptance Of this proposition by
! the board Of directors would have
| placed in the hands of the CITY
council a power greater than ever before
welded by a municipal body: a power
| which could have been used SO as to have
caused the bankruptcy of thousands of bust
ness men whose interests are conferred in the
| present business district. The present bust
ness district Of Chicago IS bounded as fol-
/ lou Nv 10
the west by the south branch of the Chicago
river, on the north by the Chicago river,
and on the east by Lake Michigan. The
| area thus embraced amounts to about
| 100000 square feet. 1t is doubtful if any
equal area in the world is covered with
grander buildings, representing a greater
outlay OF capital. This real estate is worth
from $4,000 to $4,000 a front foot.
The land which the worlds fair
directory proposes to reclaim from
Lake Michigan has an area of
1900 900 square feet. On this $50 acres the
city council Of Chicago looks with hungry
| eyes. They see possibilities for plumber
never before presented to corporate greed.
! To the business men and property owners
of the present commercial district, the go
acres over which Lake Michigan now rolls
comes to them in their dreams, waking and
real, as anightmare, forboding and horrible.
| To them the possible benefits derived from
the fair appear as bagatelle compared with
the losses which would inevitably result
from the city's unconditional ownership Of
this magnificent piece of property. They
would unhesitatingly abandon the fair
sooner than consent TO the conditions which
the city council attempted to impose on
their use of the land thus acquired. The
reason for this is simple
The 800 acres, which, at the conclusion of
the fair, would revert to the city OF
l
700 square feet. Through this ter
ritory the city council could order new
streets opened, and offer for sale to the
highest bidder the frontage thereby
created Assuming that this frontage was
purchased at an average figure of SO, 900 a
foot-an extremely low estimate-there
would flow into the city treasury of Chicag
the colossal sum of s500,0 900. There
would thus be established a new business
district, almost equal in extent to that on
which Chicago's massive business blocks
now stand; business district in every
way superior TO the present one, SO far as
location is concerned; a new business dis
| trlct whose real estate would soon equal
and whose resources would be placed in
direct competition with those of the old.
This is the situation. This is the possibility
which has thrown the business interests
of Chicago into spasm of fear. In their
Imagination they see the value of every foot
of land now contained in the business
district cut squarely in two. They see
the holders of leases, whose terms are
based on the present valuation of proper
ty, driven into bankruptcy. To sum IL al
up, they see $500, 000,0 900 taken from
their pockets. placed in the city treasury of
Chicago, and in addition see themselves
confronted with a competition colossal and
ruinous. 1t may safely be asserted that no
part of the Worlds Fair will ever be held
on the lake front SO long as there is the
remotest possibility that the Chicago
council will have the disposition of one
foot of that land.
This is hardly the most remarkable feat
ure Of this most remarkable state of affairs.
1t may be well to quote a director. whose
name is withheld, on a certain phase of
this question. In an unpublished interview
this gentleman said;
Should the city council obtain possession
Of that property and determine to offer it
for sale on the open market, the men whose
interests are identical with those of the
present business district of Chicago would
be powerless to prevent the consummaton
of the deal, notwithstanding the fact that
bankruptcy would inevitably come to
hundreds OF them. The aldermen would
come before the people armed with argu-
ments which could not be met, and would
be upheld and reelected by Overwhelming
majorities. In answer to our protests they
would'say: We propose to put five hundred