The Chicago Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) People Plaza Program is holding four Activate! Chicago events today at locations around the City. The innovative new program launched this year is designed to create public spaces in plazas, malls and traffic triangles across Chicago. 

Following are four events scheduled for today:

•  Allen Lee Plaza - 2300 S. Wentworth Avenue: You Are Beautiful mural installation, 3 to 5 p.m., sponsored by Groupon.
•  Englewood Plaza - 850 W. 63rd Street: Human Beatbox performance by Yuri Lane, 4 to 6 p.m.
•  Woodard Plaza - 2810 N. Milwaukee Avenue: Theater Y performance, with circus act opening, 3 to 6 p.m.
•  Northcenter Town Square – W. Belle Plaine Avenue and Damen Avenue (4100 N. Damen): Retail Truckstop and business open house, 3 to 6 p.m.

Activate! Chicago events are coordinated with local Aldermen and stakeholders. The People Plaza Program is a public-private partnership between the City and Latent Design Corporation, which was selected through a competitive RFP process and is responsible for the management and implementation of the program.   The program is being rolled out citywide over the next three years and plazas will be activated in ten locations this year with additional locations added over the next two years. 

The citywide effort grows out of CDOT’s Make Way for People Program which employs the urban planning strategy of “placemaking” to support innovative uses of the public way in the city’s streets, parking places, alleys and other public spaces in order to create hubs for community activity.

The goal is to improve street safety, promote walking and support the quality of life and economic vitality of all of the city’s neighborhoods.  The program is run by CDOT in partnership with the Department of Finance and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

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Twitter:  @ChicagoDOT

Facebook: www.facebook.com/CDOTNews

The web: chicagodot.org