Moore: I was on a boat tour along Michigan Avenue. The tour guide ignored DuSable. Young people at Powell and Stagg Elementary School called me to tell me the students was interested in renaming Lake Shore Drive to Jean Baptiste Point DuSable Lake Shore Drive. The kids were excited.
A 7th grader, a young man at Powell, said that as he read about the “trading post” where John Baptist established the first business in Chicago, I became passionate from the conversation. I appreciate Alderman Sophia King. for becoming my partner on the ordinance.
The proposal on Lake Shore for sign change cost $833,000. It was met with resistance, and the Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s alternative plan was to rename the Chicago River – the Riverwalk, DuSable Park – Millennium Park and place statues along the Riverwalk and art for $40 million. I told the mayor it would not be an alternative but an excellent complement to honoring DuSable. The city of New York was about to name a street after DuSable, and Mayor Lightfoot wanted Chicago to be the first to change the name. New York advanced our name change. I am happy that Lake Shore Drive became Jean Baptiste Point DuSable Lake Shore Drive. It is befitting of the first businessman in the city. It unites the town.