The Chicago Park District unveiled a remarkably ambitious new plan earlier this month to remake Northerly Island into a park that contains everything from manmade reef islands and lagoons to a brand new concert venue.

The so-called framework plan could further bolster the legacy of retiring Richard Daley as a green mayor — Daley controversially tore down the Meigs Field airport in 2003 to create the Northerly Island Park.

But implementation of the framework plan will take decades and there is a chance that it could not be implemented at all. “This is a guiding document not a final plan,” says Zves Kubat, spokesman for the park district. “It is what we’ll be looking to 20-30 years down the road.”

Moreover, the cash-strapped city doesn’t know how much the plan will cost. “Until we begin the actual construction and get the contractor bids out we can’t guess on the actual price,” Kubat said.

The park district rolled out a Northerly Island plan Dec. 3 and it aspires to maximize the ecological possibilities of the 91-acre manmade peninsula. Completed in 1925 as part of Daniel Burnham’s lakefront plan, Northerly Island now sits between Soldier Field and the Adler Planetarium.

The park district will engineer reef islands and lagoons on the southeast side of the island while cultivating forests and wetlands on the southwest side. Meanwhile, the northeast side will continue to be used as a beach and the northwest side will be both a harbor and a new concert space.

In fact, the city stopped taking bids Monday, Dec. 20 for a contractor to build a new concert amphitheatre to replace Charter One Pavilion, a temporary venue built in 2005. More than 100 organizations acquired application materials for the bid.

Kubat says the city will soon “establish a short list of qualified firms” for the concert site. As with the overall project, Kubat “has no idea at this point” how much the amphitheater will cost.

According to the framework plan, the juxtaposition between commerce on the northern part of the island and nature on the southern part “Will attract diverse people, fish, and birds.”

The plan is full of such lofty pronouncements: “Imagine canoeing through calm lake water to quiet offshore islands, hiking an island oasis provided by a thriving woodland canopy, or discovering a rocky beach with breathtaking views. Imagine all of this within walking distance of Chicago’s bustling urban center.”

But the retirement of Daley in May throws the whole project into question. The park district doesn’t need the approval of City Council to move forward on specific new projects, but they do need the approval from the mayor, who oversees the city agency. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Kubat says on the transition from Daley.

One reason that the new mayor may change course on Northerly Island is that, like the rest of the city, the park district’s finances are in peril. According to the Chicago Civic Federation, the park district recently closed a $22 million dollar deficit by using one-time revenues like $3 million from its Corporate Fund Balance and $12 million in surplus Tax Increment Finance, or TIF, distribution.

Another reason is that Daley’s midnight destruction of the Meigs Field runway on March 31, 2003 is widely seen as one of the most dictatorial moves of the mayor’s 21-year tenure. Daley destroyed the runway after reaching an impasse with both the state and federal government over converting the airport into a green space. Seven years later, Steve Whitney, who runs the Friends of Meigs Field, a group that advocates bringing the airport back.

“It’s a pretty plan but there’s nothing to pay for it,” Whitney says of the framework plan. “We’ve put together one possible proposal that would generate $100 million and do a park and airport combination.”

Despite the potential revenue advantages of an airport, Whitney claims that the city has consulted no one in the aviation community about what to do with Northerly Island. “We hope the next mayor will be willing to listen to all sides instead of just one side,” he said.