Harsh Winter Killed Bushes At Water Tower Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- If you've been out along Chicago's Magnificent Mile lately, you might have noticed that the bushes in the city's most historic park are more brown than green.
WBBM Newsradio's Steve Miller reports tourists have certainly noticed all the dead bushes in Water Tower Park.
"After looking and stopping and taking pictures of the flower arrangements coming down Michigan Avenue, once you get in the park, it's a little disappointing to see so many being dead," one man said.
Bush after bush - boxwood after boxwood - dead.
The Chicago Water Department maintains the park at Michigan and Chicago; home of the Historic Chicago Water Tower, one of the only buildings to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Commissioner Thomas Powers says the extremely cold winter killed the bushes, and they haven't been replaced yet because of a capital improvement project underground.
"So we waited until after that project was done, and now we'll be in there in the next week or so," Powers said.
The commissioner said new landscaping will be in place by fall, depending on the weather.
"Replacing the shrubbery that's dead, moving the shrubbery around, nd rehabilitating all of the landscaping in that park," Powers said. "We ask people to be a little patient with us as we bring this park back to what it should be as an icon for the city of Chicago."