63rd Street Beach currently sits inside Jackson (Andrew) Park, Park No. 19 — it does not have its own park identity, and it does not have its own Park Advisory Council. Getting to a fully independent, community-governed beach means doing two distinct things, more or less at the same time, because they depend on different Chicago Park District offices and different kinds of evidence:
63rd Street Bongo Beach Park
Right now, CPD administers 63rd Street Beach as a facility inside Jackson Park, not as its own park. This track is the case for distinct park recognition — the history behind why that's not as unusual a request as it sounds, and the dossier of evidence needed to ask CPD for it in writing.
Status: recognition case in progress, not yet submitted to CPD Enter This Track → B Track B · Creating the councilThe Park Advisory Council (BBPAC)
Separately, this is the governance work: bylaws, board structure, financial controls, and the full CPD registration process needed to stand up the community council that will help oversee the beach once it exists as recognized ground — 510 documents across 12 phases, published as each is drafted.
Status: 12 phases drafted; Phase 0 (Pre-Formation Gate) still pending a CPD response Enter This Track →Why both, and why now? Track B's own Phase 0 depends partly on how Track A resolves — CPD's guidelines recognize only one registered PAC per park, and Jackson Park already has one (JPAC). If Track A succeeds and 63rd Street Beach becomes its own distinct park, Track B's path gets much more straightforward. That's why this organizing effort keeps building both tracks in parallel instead of waiting on one to finish before starting the other: nobody knows yet which piece resolves first, and neither track's paperwork is wasted if it doesn't.
New organizers: the full research behind Track A — precedent library, CPD stakeholder & authority matrix, and a live evidence/verification tracker — lives in a working staff site, not yet fact- and legal-reviewed for outside audiences.
Organizer resources →Two steps to actually start helping
Everything else on this page — the document library, the Matrix, the version log — is reference material for people already in the work. These two links are the whole on-ramp.
Get Oriented
The whole picture — both tracks, and what the Matrix is — at a glance, with audio for every step. Start here if any of the above is new to you.
Get Oriented →Join a Section
Pick from the 28 sections of the Matrix — see what's open, or let us pick one for you. Confirm your email and you're in immediately, no staff wait.
Join a Section →Reference tools for anyone already working on this — not required reading to get started.
Document Search
All 510 documents, filterable by phase, classification, or drafting status.
Due-Diligence Matrix
761 items, 29 domains — every system and record that needs a decision.
Readiness Dashboard
How much is resolved on our own side vs. genuinely waiting on someone else.
Version Log
Every change to every document or determination, in order, forever.
Opted-in team leaders: Review Queue → — approve or send back item submissions from any section.