Will Boxing Fans See Loyola Park?

Too little, too late, at least for this year, the Chicago Park District has put a Band-Aid over some of the potholes of the still-deteriorating foot paths of Loyola Park in the 49th Ward. A small stretch of the foot paths has been paved over with a thin layer of asphalt.

As reported by The Bench earlier this week, some of the many potholes in the park were filled in with gravel. Today, The Bench photographed the newly paved-over foot paths on the northern edge of the park (photo left).

But the vast majority of the foot paths have still not been repaired (photos below). The little bit of work that has been done, however, in insufficient not only because is it such a small part of the park, but because it is only a short-term fix. The heavy blue garbage trucks, police cars and other vehicles will continue to rumble over these thin ribbons of asphalt. This will cause them to fail again. The Park District clearly did this on the cheap. If they were serious about fixing the park, they would have (a) replaced the old paths with pavement that can handle a loaded garbage truck, rather than three inches of tar, and (b) fixed the remaining 90 percent of the park.

This is pitifully typical of the Park District, and sadly typical of Chicago, which seems determined lately to become a crumbling shadow of what it once was. The CTA is crumbling, literally and managerially, the city's beautiful parks are deteriorating, taxes are about to go even higher than the obscenely high levels they've been at for years, and the city recently demonstrated that it can't even pay attention to weather forecasts and be prepared for mid-80's temperatures during a marathon. And Mayor Daley thinks he can host the Olympics?

Well, cheer up, Chicago, we're about to host the World Boxing Championships. Daley, no doubt, sees this as a chance to show off Chicago's ability to handle a large event.

Billed as the biggest global sporting extravaganza to hit Chicago since the 1994 World Cup, the Oct. 23-to-Nov. 3 event at the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion is expected to draw 700 boxers from 120 countries and a dozen voting members of the International Olympic Committee. More at the Sun-Times...

Will the boxing fans will get to see Loyola Park?