Full Text of HR0863 94th General Assembly
HR0863 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HR0863 |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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HR0863 |
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LRB094 19216 HSS 55055 r |
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 21 |
| presented to the Honorable Leon M. Despres as an expression of | 22 |
| our esteem.
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