Buckingham Fountain’s new $500 French chairs: The Rundown
Good afternoon, and happy Friday! I haven’t had a matcha soft serve (my favorite summer dessert) this year, and I may fix that this weekend. But first, here’s what you need to know today.
1. High-fashion French lawn chairs are coming to Buckingham Fountain
The Chicago Park District will debut 100 green metal chairs around Buckingham Fountain tomorrow as part of a new pilot program that takes a cue from European cities like Paris and encourages people to socialize in the lakefront park.
But having somewhere to sit comes with a price tag, my colleague Courtney Kueppers reports for WBEZ.
The 100 chairs, manufactured by Fermob in Paris, cost $54,438 in total, a Park District spokesperson said. Of that, $24,438 was footed by the city. Lollapalooza, which partnered on the project and will host its 21st festival in Grant Park July 30-Aug. 2, paid the remaining $30,000.
The selection was inspired by the seating in Paris’ Luxembourg Garden, according to the city announcement. In Chicago, 50 of the chairs will have an upright back and 50 will be slightly reclined. The movable chairs will be in the park until September, except, the city said, during major events hosted in Grant Park.
The chairs are part of a larger initiative, called Chicago’s Front Yard Reimagined 2026, which was published in February as an update to a 2002 plan. One of the new plan’s most ambitious ideas would move DuSable Lake Shore Drive below ground for a stretch and extend Buckingham Fountain’s surrounding landscaping to the lakefront. [WBEZ]
2. Mayor Johnson will introduce a measure to protect Chicago renters
The Protecting Renters Ordinance would ban hidden fees, create a registry to track rental units and establish a new agency that would serve as a hub for tenants and landlords. It also establishes a Tenant Bill of Rights and requires landlords to disclose if they’re using algorithmic pricing tools, WBEZ’s Esther Yoon-Ji Kang reports.
City officials said the measure, which the mayor plans to introduce to Chicago’s housing committee next month, affects more than 600,000 renter households.
The rental registry would require landlords to pay an annual fee, with the amount determined by building size and owner occupancy. Owner-occupied, two- to six-unit buildings and nonprofit affordable housing are exempt from the fee. Larger building owners would be charged anywhere from $20 to $60 a unit.
The annual fees, which the city expects could total around $20 million, would help fund the initiatives laid out in the bill and improve inspections and enforcement.
Some landlords and realtor groups are skeptical, arguing these measures are burdensome and will ultimately drive up the cost of housing. [WBEZ]
After passing long-sought regulations on the insurance and AI industries, lawmakers’ highest-profile topics to tackle will also be the toughest, Mitchell Armentrout and Matt Trunfio report for the Chicago Sun-Times.
A month after the Illinois House passed a sprawling megaprojects bill, lawmakers were considering paring down proposed legislation that would apply more narrowly to the Bears while punting on the statewide policy for which Pritzker has long advocated. Dozens of other states allow companies to negotiate discounted payments in lieu of taxes to local governments instead of their full property tax bills, as long as they’re investing in projects of $100 million or more.
But a narrow Bears bill won’t be any easy sell for Chicago Democrats reluctant to pave the Bears’ path to the suburbs, nor for any lawmaker uncomfortable with helping out a franchise valued at $8.9 billion while Illinois homeowners deal with some of the nation’s highest property tax bills.
Meanwhile, Gov. JB Pritzker already has gotten a pair of key legislative wins with regulations on auto and home insurance companies, as well as the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry. [Chicago Sun-Times]
4. A Mather senior laced up his soccer shoes again after months in immigration detention
Ricardo Navarrete took part in his high school’s intramural soccer tournament a day after being released from immigration detention. It was his first game since federal immigration authorities took him and his mother into custody earlier this year.
As Emmanuel Camarillo reports for the Chicago Sun-Times, Ricardo was released on Tuesday after supporters brought national attention to the family’s plight and lawyers fought for them in court. His mother was freed last week.
Ricardo and Liliana arrived in Chicago as asylum-seekers in 2022 from Bogota, Colombia. They had an active asylum application when they were detained, according to their lawyers. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said they were apprehended “for illegally entering the United States.”
“I feel so many feelings,” Ricardo said. “I’m so happy to be here. I just want to be with my family and play soccer.” [Chicago Sun-Times]
5. A new program brings a playful performance to kids in Chicago-area hospitals
A Northwestern University class this spring is bringing playful, small-scale theater to an unlikely setting: Chicago’s pediatric hospitals. “Let’s Go Camping!” was developed in part by professor Elizabeth Brendel Horn while she was still working in Florida. Now, in her first year at Northwestern, she is bringing the program to Chicago.
As my colleague Courtney Kueppers writes, the performance features two actors, a giant cardboard backpack full of props and a whole lot of imagination. It can be done for an audience as small as one, beside a child’s hospital bed, or for a larger group in a lobby or playroom.
“The way I see it is that we’re bending theater, right?” Brendel Horn said. “We’re saying theater can exist in a lot of different spaces. And in this setting, the space is a child’s hospital room.” [WBEZ]
Here’s what else is happening
- A judge temporarily blocked payouts from the Trump administration’s “anti-weaponization” fund. [AP]
- Patients and doctors are hailing a “revolutionary” new drug for pancreatic cancer. [Chicago Sun-Times]
- More movies in theaters were made by directors who honed their skills on YouTube. [New York Times]
- Chicago Public Library’s summer reading program for adults is back. [Block Club Chicago]
Oh, and one more thing …
In case you missed it, a new show is hitting the airwaves tonight.
My colleagues at Vocalo are launching “The Vocalo Hotline,” an interactive radio show designed to bring Chicago’s music culture to life. Each week, host Nudia Hernandez takes listener requests and dedications, talks to the artists shaping the Chicago music scene and plays the tracks you need to hear next.
You can listen to the first-ever “Vocalo Hotline” tonight at 8 p.m. on WBEZ (91.5 FM) or on Vocalo (91.1 FM or vocalo.org). [Vocalo]
Tell me something good …
What would you tell or ask Pope Leo XIV if you ever had a chance to meet him?
Chris writes:
“If I had the opportunity to meet Pope Leo XIV I would ask if and when he plans to come back to visit Chicago.”
Brian writes:
“‘When will the church permit women to become priests?’”
Thanks for all the responses this week!
Discussion in the ATmosphere