Paul: My wife and I were invited to the preview of the remodeling which included a tour of the finished work on the AmTrak floor as well as the work in progress of the other floors of the Station building.

We were then led to the "basement" of the main building to the tunnel that connects a good portion of the major buildings in the station area. As part of the walk we walked under the Chicago river to where the U.S. Post Office dropped bags of mail onto large carts that were returned to the station at track level for delivery cross country. We then walked up a long ramp that ended at track level and looking at the Chicago river. That was a fantastic tour that we will never forget. We both took lots of photos and made a Ken Burns effect video that we view and enjoy occasionally.

We cross the Canal Street bridge every time we come to Chicago.

Located on the south branch of the Chicago River, Ping Tom Memorial Park is a 17-acre public urban park in the Chinatown neighborhood, on Chicago's South Side.

Ping Tom Memorial Park by Paul Sager, on Flickr


Ping Tom Memorial Park
Chinatown, Chicago, IL
April 2021

The park features a pagoda-style pavilion, bamboo gardens, and a playground. Ping Tom Memorial Park is named in honor of prominent Chinatown businessman and civic leader Ping Tom; a bronze bust of Tom is installed near the park's pavilion.

Ping Tom Memorial Park


In 1962, the construction preparations for the Dan Ryan Expressway demolished the only two parks in the Chinatown area (Hardin Square and Stanford Park). Community efforts to construct a larger park were impeded both by a lack of funds and the absence of any suitable site. Businessman and civic leader Ping Tom worked for decades to create a new open space in Chinatown.

Ping Tom Memorial Park


To create the new park, Ping Tom created the Chinese American Development Corporation (CADC) and worked to purchase unused land along the Chicago River on the north side of Chinatown. In the 1989 the CADC purchased 32-acres of a former Santa Fe rail yard. The Chicago Park District purchased an additional 6-acres in 1991 extending to the north the land available to the park.

St. Charles Air Line Bridge


The park's entrance is marked by the "Four Dragon Gateway," four 20 feet (6.1 m)-tall columns, each etched with Chinese dragons and is modeled after a traditional Chinese courtyard.

Ping Tom Memorial Park


The pagoda-style pavilion, bamboo gardens, and a playground were completed in 1999 during the Phase One of the park construction. Before creating the park, the US Army Corps of Engineers first restored the badly deteriorated shoreline of the Chicago River. The land was also tested for any harmful contaminants from prolonged use as a rail yard.

Ping Tom Memorial Park


Ping Tom died of pancreatic cancer in July 1995—three years before construction of the park began. During a Chinatown Chamber of Commerce meeting held in March 1998, the Riverside Park Advisory Council suggested renaming the park in honor of Ping Tom, the driving force behind its creation.

Ping Tom Memorial Park


Tai chi, sometimes colloquially known as "Shadowboxing," is a Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits, and meditation.

Ping Tom Memorial Park


In the recent few decades, tai chi classes that focus purely on the health benefits have become popular in hospitals, clinics, and community and senior centers. This has occurred as the baby boomer generation has aged and the art's reputation as a low-stress training method for seniors has become better known. As a result of this popularity, there has been some divergence between those that say they practice tai chi primarily for self-defence, those that practice it for its aesthetic appeal and the benefits of physical and mental health.

Ping Tom Memorial Park


Today, tai chi has enthusiastic practitioners worldwide. As a result, a multitude of traditional and modern training forms exist corresponding to those aims with differing emphasis. Some training forms of tai chi are practiced with extremely slow movements.

Ping Tom Memorial Park


The south border of the park is the Canal Street Railway bridge. Also known as the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge, the Canal Street bridge is an operational vertical-lift bridge across the south branch of the Chicago River. It was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2007.

Canal Street Railroad Bridge


Images captured on film using an EOS 1v with EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM

The images in this post feature two different types of film, Fuji Superia X-tra 400 (expired March 2003) and fresh Kodak Ektar 100. Adjustments were made to the ISO setting when each roll was loaded to an EOS 1v. Details on the exposure are provided in the EXIF data from Flickr, just use the image titles as URL links to Flickr. The scanned JPEGs were processed in Adobe Lightroom v6.

Ping Tom Memorial Park