Donald J. DePorter Gateway – Inbound Ohio/Orleans/Ontario triangle
Estimated Vehicular Views: 43,500 per day
Sponsored by Harry Caray's
Since 1987, Harry Caray’s Restaurant Group has proven to be one of Chicago’s most dynamic and successful restaurant management companies. The enterprise currently operates seven restaurants, an off-premise catering company and the Chicago Sports Museum.
About the Garden
Located at the triangle of where Ohio, Ontario, and Orleans meet, this garden is dedicated to Chicago Gateway Green’s founder, the late Donald J. DePorter. Beds of Russian sage, Kallay’s compact Juniper, ‘Easy Elegance’ roses, and Echinacea surround the stunning ‘Being Born’ sculpture by artist Virginio Ferrari.
Being Born, 1983, by Virginio Ferrari
A gift from the Tool and Die Institute, Virginio Ferrari’s Being Born is a tribute to art and technology and to the industry that commissioned and fabricated it. The two rings of stainless steel, one fitting precisely within the other, honor the precise metalworking skills involved in die making and suggest, with the open section on the outer ring, that the industry is open to growth and new ideas. The cutting of the metal parts was carried out by Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Incorporated.
Originally located at State and Washington Streets and positioned within a shallow reflecting pool, the work was relocated in 1996 when the formerly named “New Orleans Triangle” was re-landscaped and re-designed as the Donald J. DePorter Gateway. The project was led by Chicago Gateway Green, which hoped to create a better first impression for drivers entering the city. Ferrari was born in Verona, Italy in 1937 but has been based in Chicago since the mid-1960s.
100 gardens cover almost 150 acres of roadside landscapes on all major expressways leading in and out of Chicago
The Expressway Partnership Program
The Expressway Partnership Program turns dreary embankments into ribbons of green parkways weaving through the city. More than 100 gardens comprise the Program, covering almost 150 acres of roadside landscapes on all major expressways leading into and out of the city. Each garden is carefully planned using native shrubs, trees, and perennials that require fewer resources and are well adapted to the harsh roadside growing conditions. We work closely with professional landscape crews to provide plant care, weed control, mowing, and litter pickup from April through October to ensure our gardens always look their best!