CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The AIDS Garden Chicago, which was supposed to be finished by this fall, is still waiting for state money to be released so the project can be completed.
Elected leaders from across Illinois held a virtual meeting Monday morning to give updates on the AIDS Garden Chicago.
“This particular project is incredibly important to the LGBTQ community — not only to remember the many lives lost, but also [as] an enduring symbol of strength, perseverance and unity in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” said State Rep. Yoni Pizer, D-Chicago. “This garden will forever remind us of those we lost and all those affect by HIV and AIDS and those we must never forget.”
It was in the late ‘80s, as AIDS was decimating Chicago’s gay community, that James Cappleman became a social worker to help people with AIDS.
And now he is an alderman - and pushing for funding for the AIDS Garden.
“I don’t think the public today has any remote concept of what we went through," he said.
Pizer said over $1.4 million was appropriated in the latest Illinois budget to help construct the new AIDS Garden Chicago. As of now, the AIDS Garden, on the lakefront south of Belmont Harbor, is set to be finished in the fall of next year.
But Illinois House Majority Leader Greg Harris, himself an AIDS survivor, said the state hasn’t released funding for the construction yet.
“Long story short, it’s going to take a little bit longer than people thought to get the funding going that would support this and the other economic development projects," Harris said.
Harris said funding is supposed to be coming from casinos, and the pandemic has closed down casinos and video gaming.
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The AIDS Garden Chicago, located at 3003 N. Lakefront Trail, is already home to artist and AIDS activist Keith Haring’s “Self Portrait,” a 30-foot-tall green sculpture. The statue remains fenced off.