March 4
Victims of sexual assaults shared their personal experiences during a meeting of Police District Council 14—Shakespeare (Humboldt Park, Avondale, Lincoln Park, West Town, Logan Square), including how police in the district have dealt with their cases. Some victims and their loved ones said they felt the cases were mishandled. 14th District Commander Melinda Linus responded to concerns about investigations in Logan Square dating back to 2022. After reading a statement about an allegedly mishandled case in December, one attendee asked: “My question is, how is that possible, with any kind of training, that something was mishandled so incredibly? And what is being done to rectify that so these things don’t happen in the future?” Linus said she could not discuss the details of specific investigations because they are handled by the Bureau of Detectives. “Clearly this is a primary concern of the district and the department right now,” she said. “We have increased our patrols, both uniform and covert operations in the area, and we continue to work with the Detective Division on any leads [and] assistance that they may need.” Council members also explained police protocols if they are contacted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The district does not assist with enforcing civil immigration law, said Linus, in accordance with Special Order S06-14-03. “Department members will not threaten to deport or verbally abuse someone because of their immigration status,” Linus said.
March 5
Affordable single-family homes and a community arts center are coming to East Garfield Park. At a meeting the Chicago City Council Committee on Housing and Real Estate passed an amendment for the sale of nine lots on the 3200 and 3300 blocks of West Walnut St. under the City Lots for Working Families program. The project developers have already built two other affordable homes on the 3200 block,which they said were built for $340,000 with a market-rate sales price of $390,000. Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward) said community members are seeing the effects of gentrification in many areas of East Garfield Park. “This product they have built is affordable,” Ervin said, “and will keep families intact in the community.” Retail space, classrooms and meeting rooms, glass-blowing and ceramics studios, outdoor workshop spaces, an arts garden, and parking lot are included in the design of the Firebird Community Arts Support Corporation project. The Committee approved the sale of nine lots from 3312 to 3344 Lake St. to the organization for the $6.7 million development, which is about a half block from the Kedzie Green Line station.
March 6
Plans to rehabilitate Logan Square’s ninety-nine-year-old Congress Theater are moving forward. At their meeting, members of the Chicago City Council Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development approved a tax incentive for the historic landmark building as a component of a larger redevelopment that makes use of $27 million in TIF funds. The renovated theater is to become a music venue with sixteen affordable residences and commercial space. The building is slated to open in 2027 and to cost $87.8 million. “Even beyond what we might consider the tax savings here,” said Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st Ward), a committee member. “I think it is more than made up for with the benefit that this project brings and the interest that it brings to the parcels around it.”
Getting a head start on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Board of Commissioners (MWRD) meeting opened with a performance by the Shannon Rovers Irish Pipe Band. Jim Coyne of the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union 130 UA spoke at the meeting. The union is responsible for dyeing the Chicago River a rich emerald green each year. Part of the meeting concerned Chicago’s water issues in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling that, according to the news site Mic, will “allow cities like San Francisco [and Chicago] to increase their sewage discharges without facing significant federal oversight.” Said Finance Committee Chair Marcelino Garcia, “We need to be committed to the current standards.” The Board’s consensus seemed to be to uphold Chicago’s water treatment standards.
March 11
At its meeting, the Public Building Commission of Chicago Board selected two Chicago firms to design and build a $20-million senior center planned for 4711-4755 South Calumet Ave. in Bronzeville. The woman-led RADA Architects Ltd. was chosen to work with minority-owned Milhouse Engineering and Construction. Commenting on South and West Side development, Mayor Brandon Johnson said, “We want to continue to drill down to make sure . . . that those who are participating in that development actually reflect the values of the community.” The Commission is also working with the City Colleges of Chicago on a $17-million Malcolm X College West Campus addition and renovations at 4624 West Madison St. Johnson touted the work as an investment bringing “great economic opportunities for the West Side.”
During its meeting, the Chicago City Council Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards designated one building an historic landmark and approved Adopt-A-Landmark grants for two others. Built in 1905, the Rector Building, 79 West Monroe Street, received landmark status in connection with a $64.2 million renovation project. The oldest surviving commercial high-rise designed by Jarvis Hunt, according to a City press release, the fourteen-story Rector Building is being redeveloped as mixed-income residential units and retail space. The committee also approved Adopt-A-Landmark grants for two historic Near West Side churches to support preservation projects. The First Baptist Congregational Church is to receive $1.46 million and the Greater Union Baptist Church $750,000.
March 12
A $280,000 settlement approved by the Chicago City Council ended a lawsuit filed against police by Miracle Boyd, who was injured during a July 2020 protest in Grant Park. Boyd was eighteen at the time. A public commenter who supported the settlement said that it “ain’t enough for what she endured.” An organizer with GoodKids MadCity, Boyd was filming when an officer knocked the phone out of her hand, causing it to hit her face and knock out a front tooth. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability had recommended that the officer be fired for using excessive force and filing a false police report. He resigned in 2022. GoodKids MadCity, a youth-led anti-violence nonprofit, supports the Peacebook Ordinance, which calls for police funding to support alternate violence prevention measures. “We have to do more,” said Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st Ward). “We have to pass the Peacebook here in the city of Chicago.”
Buses on eight of twenty planned new CTA bus routes—the “frequent bus network”—are set to make their first runs on March 23, the Chicago Transit Authority Board learned at its meeting. The network routes are designed to reduce wait times to ten minutes or less. “Enhancements like this are what you would see if CTA continues to be funded at the level it should be,” CTA acting President Nora Leerhsen told the Board. “We’re continuing to advocate fiercely for transit funding for CTA in the region and to continue to highlight the inequities in the current funding structure.” Leerhsen also announced two public engagement initiatives, The CTA Connection newsletter and a podcast. The monthly publication will provide information relevant to transit riders. As part of a funding initiative, a podcast is also planned, Leerhsen said.
How are we doing? We’d really like to know. Please take a brief survey below or head to bit.ly/SSW_PMR_Survey. You can also just email us at editor@southsideweekly.com, put “PMR” in the subject line, and tell us in your own words. Thank you.
This information was collected and curated by the Weekly in large part using reporting from City Bureau’s Documenters at documenters.org.