Streeterville group opposes regular closing of Clark Street for outdoor dining in River North

Outdoor dining is allowed on a stretch of Clark Street in River North through Nov. 18. A proposed ordinance would create a permit, issued by the city’s Department of Transportation, that restaurants could apply for to allow them to operate the expanded outdoor dining every year, from May through October. (Outdoor dining is allowed on a stretch of Clark Street in River North through Nov. 18. This picture was taken on Nov. 1, 2022, looking north on Clark from Illinois Street. | Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times)

One of Chicago’s oldest and most influential community organizations is urging Mayor Lori Lightfoot to scrap plans to allow a three-block stretch of Clark Street to be closed to make way for expanded outdoor dining.

In an Oct. 27 letter to the mayor, obtained by the Sun-Times, Streeterville Organization of Active Residents President Deborah Gershbein said her 47-year-old group is “strongly opposed” to permanently closing Clark Street between Grand and Kinzie. In part, that’s due to its proximity to Medinah Temple, on Clark Street a block north of Grand, the proposed location for an interim casino.