The forgotten mayor: An icon is about to be honored.
The selection of a fitting city monument to honor the legacy of former Mayor Jane Byrne, the city’s only female mayor, is coming to a close.
It’s also the answer to a flood of responses to Sneed’s campaign to memorialize our nearly forgotten mayor, which included this email from a Sneed reader a few days ago:
“Michael,
“What was the outcome of “Remembering Jane Byrne?” There was so much press about naming something after her, and then nothing (unless I missed it).
Thank you.
Jean Trnka”
Dear Jean,
Here’s the answer.
Jane Byrne will not be forgotten.
Not only have Mayor Rahm Emanuel, City Council Finance chairman Ald. Ed Burke (14th) and a huge lineup of aldermen signed on to the project, but Byrne’s daughter, Kathy Byrne, who is determined to have it happen while her ailing 81-year-old mother is still alive, has settled upon a venue she feels would be appropriate.
“I have suggested the plaza at Water Tower Park be renamed in her honor,” said Kathy Byrne.
“It is in her neighborhood and where the old Water Tower sits. Mom had the park redone during her tenure in office, which was 1979 to 1983,” said Byrne.
“Then it was redone again during a subsequent administration and an antique clock she had placed there was removed.
“The park is in the Cathedral District, where my mother’s grandparents lived and where our forebears, the Crane family, lived during the great Chicago Fire.”
