City to turn prairies near Lake Calumet into quality recreation site

Image courtesy of bigmarshchicago.com

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday said the city plans to develop about 300 acres around 116th Street and Stony Island Avenue into a series of trails for hikers and mountain bikers — giving them a challenging, yet natural, terrain to ride.

Emanuel said he sees this plan as a way of making nature more accessible to all Chicago residents.

“It used to be that such places were only available to those who could afford to make it to Wisconsin or to Michigan,” he said, while adding he sees a personal benefit to the site.

“It will be a great way to work out stress for me,” he said…Please click here to read Gregory Tejeda’s story in the Times,  here for a related stories on CBS News or here for  DNAinfo.