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CHICAGO (CBS)– City officials will unveil Chicago’s new AIDS Garden Chicago in Lakeview East Thursday morning.
Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot will be there for the ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. near the lake just south of Belmont Avenue.
It’s the start of Pride month, and this has been a beloved gathering place for the city’s LGBTQ+ community for decades.
The garden has been a multiphase project years in the making, which began in 2019.
City officials said this is the Chicago’s first public park to memorialize the early days of Chicago’s HIV epidemic. The goal is to also honor those who continue to fight against the disease today.
The center piece of the park is a 30-foot statue, the outline of a man which is a tribute to artist Keith Haring.
Haring died in the early 90s from AIDS, but he spent years doing so much work to raise awareness about HIV and the statue is based on a real piece of work he did himself
Source: ChicagoCBS
