Jens Jensen's Meadow in Danger of Development

CHICAGO-The 17-acre Lake Michigan shoreline property of Michael Segal, which includes a meadow designed by landscape architect Jens Jensen (1860-1951), is up for grabs. Segal, an insurance executive found guilty of racketeering, awaits sentencing.

Meanwhile, what will become of the Segal property has caught the attention of the city, Highland Park, and Uncle Sam. The Pioneer Press speculates the IRS will seize the property to settle court judgments of more than $30 million against Segal.

An agency called the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois has placed the property on its top ?EUR??,,????'??10 architecturally endangered sites in the Chicago area?EUR??,,????'?? to draw attention to the plight of the property, which many believe will end up subdivided into housing lots. The Preservation Council has no legal standing in the matter; its move to put the property on its preservation list is purely symbolic, but the city of Highland Park does have some legal standing to protect the property from development.

Jens Jensen, a Norwegian immigrant who came to the U.S. at the age of 24, settled in Chicago and became a leader in the movement to conserve the natural landscape. He was one of the pioneers of a Midwestern style of municipal parks and private gardens known as the Prairie Style of landscape architecture. Jensen created Columbus Park on the western edge of Chicago, redesigned three other large west-side parks and 15 smaller ones. He also designed parks in Racine and Madison, Wisconsin; Dubuque, Iowa; and Springfield, Illinois, and designed landscapes for dozens of estates, including those of the Florsheim family and Henry and Edsel Ford.

For more information on Jens Jensen, visit www.jensjensen.org