Hyde Park Progress

Empty Borders Building to House Akira Apparel

2012-01-27T09:57:00.002-06:00

posted by chicago pop

[Source: http://www.shopakira.com/]

From Crain's Chicago Business: Hyde Park's empty Borders building will soon host the flagship store of Chicago fashion boutique Akira. Asked why he chose to open a location in Hyde Park - the flagship store, no less - owner Eric Hsueh said this about the local market:

"Our core customer is in their mid-20s, recently out of school, who are working,” he said. And a good number of those customers live in Hyde Park and currently drive to the North Side to shop at other Akiras."

Now they won't have to, which is exactly what Hyde Park's retail renaissance should be about. Local business meets local market.

Akira, a rapidly expanding Chicago-based clothing boutique, will open its 19th location, I've learned, in a vacated Border's bookstore in Hyde Park this fall.

(An 18th store—and the first outside of Illinois—will open next month in Merrillville's Westfield Southlake Mall. Read more about the chain, which was started a decade ago by three University of Illinois grads, here.)

The 8,000-square-foot Hyde Park store at 1539 E. 53rd St. will become the flagship location for Akira, which also has stores in Bucktown, Lincoln Park, Andersonville, Water Tower Place, Block 37 and three suburban malls.

Hyde Park “is a good market in that it's under-served and has a captive audience,” Akira co-owner Eric Hsueh told me.

53rd Street continues to fill in and, for the first time in as long as many of us can remember, with a clothing store. That's a significant diversification of the neighborhood's retail landscape.

Hyde Park School of Dance Spring 2012 Gala

2012-01-19T10:48:00.000-06:00

posted by chicago pop

Something to take advantage of!

Where is Bobby Rush? Absent 13.2% of the Time

2012-01-17T14:53:00.002-06:00

posted by chicago pop

From today's Tribune:

In case you've ever wondered why it seems that Bobby Rush doesn't really do anything. His record of missed votes is topped only by a woman who was shot in the head and two others, and is in the top ten with two representatives who have been or are still on the campaign trail.

Of note:

If all the 2008 votes and non-votes are taken out [during the period when Rush underwent surgery and treatment for cancer of the salivary gland], Rush's career percentage of missed votes drops from 13.2 to 9.6 percent, still well above the House average.

And a bit of analysis to confirm what was already known:

[M]embers who are often absent tend to come from 'safe' districts that return them to office by large majorities every two years. That describes Rush.

Sweet gig.

Z & H on Check, Please!

2012-01-17T14:33:00.000-06:00

posted by chicago pop

Almost exactly three years after getting some love from Hungry Hound, Hyde Park - Kenwood's favorite sandwich shop and locally-sourced, organic specialty foods boutique, Zaleski & Horvath Market Café, gets some attention from Check, Please! Worth noting: of the two reviewers who recommended other eateries, neither dinged Z&H!

Hat tip to HPP reader LN

2nd Ward Opposition to Hotel: Déjà vu All Over Again

2012-01-11T09:57:00.001-06:00

posted by richard gill

As reported January 4 in ChicagoRealEstateDaily.com, the Unite Here hotel union is working to block construction of a hotel in Chicago’s West Loop area. It’s a 615-room hotel proposed by Toyoko Inn Co. Ltd. What a jobs generator this would be, and what a boost to the West Loop area. But Unite Here wants to block it because it says the company plans to subcontract housekeeping work to non-union employers.

Second Ward Alderman Bob Fioretti has been delaying the zoning approval process, although local residents are not opposed. Fioretti must be feeling enormous pressure from Unite Here. In the 2^nd Ward, the union is trying to pull what they pulled and got away with—in Hyde Park—not too long ago. The union tried to disrupt a public meeting about a proposed Marriott Hotel. The developer wanted to get the hotel up and running, and employing people. Not good enough for Unite Here. They insisted on an up-front guarantee of a union shop. The guarantee was not forthcoming, so Unite Here sought to block the whole project.

Neighborhood organizations, the unemployed, the University of Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the vast majority of area residents thought the hotel was a great idea for the site of the abandoned Doctors Hospital. A few people who lived in the 5^th Ward’s 39^th Precinct, where the hotel would be built, opposed it. One of them stood up in public and said the hotel would host alcohol-soaked events whose drunken attendees would spill into the streets. He gave as an example…..Bar Mitzvahs.

Seeing that the neighborhood was strongly in favor of the hotel, someone in the precinct or the union found a hook: vote the precinct dry. Only the precinct residents needed to vote on it. A large city hotel can’t make a go of it without sale of alcoholic beverages in its bars and restaurants. The union did much of the legwork to get the dry proposition on the 2008 ballots. They managed to do it, and it passed narrowly. No hotel was built. The hotel union helped kill 200 hotel jobs on Chicago’s high-unemployment South Side.

Fioretti should support the Toyoko hotel. Let the union convince the workers to organize, once they’re working.

Read about the 2008 hotel fiasco on this blog. Start at November 23, 2008 and work back through several earlier posts.

Ray Lodato For Congress Press Release

2012-01-09T15:08:00.001-06:00

[Ed. note: Ray Lodato lives in Hyde Park. The incumbent for the 1st Congressional District of Illinois is Bobby Rush. The other candidates can be found here.]

For Immediate Release

January 7, 2012

Contact: Irene Sherr

773-324-8614

South Side Political Activist Ray Lodato Announces Candidacy

For 1^st Congressional District Seat

(Chicago, January 7, 2012)— Kicking off “a grass-roots campaign for 21^st Century leadership that looks forward, not backward,” South Side community activist and political scientist Ray Lodato has announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Congress in the First Congressional District.

Lodato is calling for policies that will create jobs in the district, which will have a positive impact on many of the problems that affect families in the cities and suburbs of the First District. The District has an unemployment rate of 13.9%, which is a key factor in the high rate of home foreclosures and puts pressure on local governments to provide emergency assistance. Lodato favors policies to increase the demand for clean energy as a way to create 21^st Century jobs for the First District. A recent report by the Environmental Law and Policy Center that listed dozens of clean energy fifrms in the Chicagoland area that are poised to add jobs. “There’s no reason that the First District should have to import our green technology from California, Germany or China,” Lodato says. “As Congressman, I’ll sponsor legislation that will call for greater use of clean energy, increasing the demand for green technology and creating jobs for our residents.”

Lodato also calls for a commitment to education excellence that will benefit all children. “Equality of education is a necessity if we are to prepare our children for jobs in the economy of the future,” Lodato says. “We have to find effective solutions that involve parents, teachers and communities together to meet the needs of all students. Providing jobs for our citizens will improve educational outcomes by stabilizing families and improving the tax base for funding our schools, but we need to make sure that our schools have adequate resources to provide a well-rounded education for all children.”

Another pillar of his jobs strategy is Lodato’s call for building high-speed rail lines to link Chicago to nine other major Midwestern cities. “We need to invest in the transportation of tomorrow, which will provide jobs today,” Lodato says. “By investing in high-speed rail, we are reclaiming Chicago’s historic position as the transportation hub of America, and creating jobs that cannot be outsourced. Many of these lines will go through the First District and will provide jobs for our residents.”

Lodato brings nearly three decades of community activism to his run for Congress. He is a past Chair of the Local School Council at William H. Ray Elementary School in Hyde Park, and he is a recipient of the Edwin Astrin Volunteer Award from the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization (IVI-IPO), a leading bipartisan political reform organization in the state. Lodato also served on the board of the IVI-IPO for over ten years, and on the board of the former Blue Gargoyle youth services organization as well. He has campaigned for several independent, reform-oriented politicians, such as Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Illinois State House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, and Alderman Leslie Hairston (5^th Ward, Chicago). Lodato worked for nearly ten years for the City of Chicago, serving on the staffs of Preckwinkle, Hairston, and former Alderman Larry Bloom (5^th Ward, Chicago).

While earning his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago, Lodato co-founded a community organization, the Neighborhood Conservation Corps, which focused on giving individuals from public housing developments jobs and jobs skill training in order to enable them to transition to the mainstream economy and skilled labor positions. Lodato is married and has three sons. His campaign website is www.lodato4congress.com, and his Facebook page is Ray Lodato for Congress.

Michael's on 47th Hits the Mat

2012-01-03T17:05:00.000-06:00

posted by chicago pop

[Source: Michael Walker/Chicago Tribune]

The 47th Street location is accursed.

At least for grocery stores. According to the Chicago Tribune, Michael's Fresh Market is applying for bankruptcy. The entire chain is going down due to difficulties obtaining financing from the grocer's creditor, Premier Bank of Wilmette. So in this case, in contrast to what transpired here before, the crisis is exogenous to Hyde Park. It appears to even be exogenous to Michael's. Rather, this one appears to be a direct local casualty of the 2008 financial crisis as it continues to unwind.

According to the lawyer for Michael's:

The financial difficulties experienced by the debtors are due in large part to the freeze on lending imposed by the lender beginning in the fall of 2010," the grocer said in a filing. "This freeze on the lender's extension on working capital to the debtors was due not to problems with the financial performance of the debtors, but primarily was caused by the lender's own financial and regulatory problems.

So there may be a chance Michael's could convince another lender to help float the daily operations of what it claims is still a viable business. Sound familiar?

Hyde Park Liberalism Critiques Itself

2012-01-01T12:31:00.004-06:00

posted by chicago pop

An interesting interview in today's Salon with former Hyde Parker and editor of The Baffler, Tom Frank. His subject is a familiar one: how the American right has been more successful in mobilizing grassroots anger and energy than the American left.

But what's interesting about this piece from an HPP perspective is that you can easily read Frank's interview as one Hyde Park liberal intellectual - Thomas Frank - critiquing another - Barack Obama - about the menu of political possibilities available to the nation - possibilities that have also developed and been brought into sharp contrast within Hyde Park itself. Grassroots anger and mobilization versus the cool-headed and technocratically-inclined Becker-Posner school of law and economics embodied in Barack Obama.

That's my spin. How Frank puts it, with reference to the populist anger channeled by various Occupation Movements and the Tea Party, is this:

The liberals had their leader in Barack Obama … they had their various people in Congress. But these people are completely unfamiliar with populist anger. It’s an alien thing to them. They don’t trust it, and they have trouble speaking to it. I like Barack Obama, but at the end of the day he’s a very professorial kind of guy...

The main thing that has to change is that Democrats and liberals have to be able to speak to the outrage, and that requires a complete change in the way they look at the world. The problem is that they’ve been going the other direction for 30 years. Ever since the right-wing backlash began, liberals have been making their own move to professionalism...

Their message was: The technocratic way is going to solve our problems. Just leave it up to the experts who are going to figure a way out.

The grassroots anger and mobilization that Frank sees as missing have long traditions in Hyde Park, certainly, but seem to have run aground for want of new ideas and successful outcomes. Their renovation has occurred outside of the traditional frameworks of Hyde Park activism. Meanwhile, the cool expertise of neo-liberal managerialism is dominant in the University of Chicago's professional schools, and while palatable to many middle class intellectuals, are remote from the grassroots for just these reasons.

It's a dualism that you feel in the neighborhood everyday. In a sense it represents the gulf between institutions of governance and masses of citizens, in this country and globally, but with a whiff of Hyde Park terroir.

Rendering of Future Harper Theater and Herald Building Renovation

2011-12-27T16:43:00.001-06:00

posted by chicago pop

On a gray winter stretch of December, this rendering of what we can expect at 53rd and Harper is a pleasant reminder of what Chicago streetlife can be like in the summer, and hopefully will be again soon at this location. Hat tip to HPP reader SS for the link at The Architect's Newspaper.

Lab School, Shoesmith Elementary, and Educational Inequality

2011-12-18T18:27:00.003-06:00

posted by chicago pop

A couple of weeks ago the amazing blog CPS Obsessed touched on a topic dear to us all but not much covered at HPP: education. Specifically, public education, the free kind, the stuff that is supposed to come with taxes and an address here in the neighborhood. I'll get straight to the remark that got me thinking:

#50. UC Lab gets a $5 million donation from an alum to build a new arts wing. Yes, Lab is an amazing school, I’m sure, and yes, they do offer some scholarships, but, but, but. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Shoesmith received a $5 million donation? Or heck, even $500,000? I wonder what the arts program at the average CPS school is like in Hyde Park? The rich get richer…

As some of you may know (or maybe not, since when most non-Lab financing Hyde Parkers think of their public elementary school, they think "Ray" or "Murray," note that these schools are halfway decent, and that they therefore will not have to move to the suburbs), there has been a moderate bit of buzz in the northern edge of the hood arising from the selection of a new principal at Shoesmith Elementary in beautiful Kenwood.

An inspiring group of parents from the Shoesmith district have formed a Friends of Shoesmith Elementary group with the aim of supporting the school's new and energetic principal in her efforts to turn the school around. It's a tall order, however. As lovely as are the old mansions and brownstones that surround Shoesmith on every side, the school does not fill to capacity and of necessity takes in children from outside the neighborhood. Scores have improved, but the school is still on probation with the CPS. The enrollment is almost uniformly African-American and low-income. Most of the white middle class parents who live in the district don't send their kids there. Full disclosure: this includes me.

Meanwhile, as everyone has heard, the Lab School, in addition to its other expansions and projects, has just landed a $5 million grant for a new arts wing.

We seriously thought about enrolling our charge at Shoesmith, did our due diligence, and have done our small bit to help out. We'd love to see it turn around. But I wonder even if all the tall hurdles facing Shoesmith and other inner city public schools could be overcome, would it be possible to overcome one hurdle particular to Hyde Park: the existence of the Lab School and a few other private options like it? Does the Lab school inevitably skim off the cohort that would, all things being equal, attend the local schools and thereby help to correct some of the problems that stem from lack of social and economic diversity? Does the channeling of resources to an elite institution like Lab only deepen the gulf of local educational inequality?

The comment on the above-linked CPS post gets at this. It's part of the broader dynamic city-wide, in which people who have the resources or wherewithal can opt-out of a public system, thereby exacerbating many of the problems that keep public schools in a cycle of under performance.

Another very candid comment laid out the situation in Shoesmith's district as it breaks down along class and racial lines:

#58 .There is a huge money gap in the Shoesmith area. there is a significant number of people who are very wealty, a significant number who live on the edges of the Shoesmith area that are low income/in subsidized housing, and a small number of middle/upper middle class families.

In my opinion, the vast majority very rich probably wouldn’t consider Shoesmith, even if it was a great CPS school b/c they are Lab/Ancona/Latin/Parker families.

The low income families have no other choice by Shoesmith and don’t have the connections/political weight/etc.. to make Nettlehorst happen.

The middle/upper middle class families (of which I’m one) could be the difference makers in turning Shoesmith but the questons for them, is seems to me, are (1) are there enough of them to make a difference at the school, (2) is the school going to be responsive, (3) is it worth the risk for their kids, (4) do any of them have the Nettlehorst-type connections, (5) and is it worth the effort knowing you’ll have to do it all over again for middle school b/c Canter MS is not a good option?

Not long ago, I had to think through these issues about Shoesmith, and decided it was better for my family to do the CPS magnet/RGC/classical lottery, or pay for Catholic school because Shoesmith seemed too much of a risk.

I still wonder what it would be like to try & make it appealing to the neighborhood, wonder if I made the wrong deicision and should have fought for Shoesmith instead of finding another school outside our neighborhood, and can’t tell you how many of my neighors who made the same decision I did say how they wish we could have our kids all the same school, right down the street.

Painful truths. As with retail, safety, sustainability, and so much else, it all comes down to head count. Are there enough middle class families and children in the district to turn Shoesmith around? In raw numbers, perhaps, but how many of them will inevitably be drawn to Lab? How much larger would the local population therefore have to be for Shoesmith to reliably enroll a racially and socioeconomically diverse student body within its own district boundaries?

As one of our neighborhood's preeminent educational institutions lands a multi-million dollar windfall, while another struggles to fill its classrooms with local kids, these are questions worth pondering.

The 'Academics of Real Estate': Harper Court in the Wall Street Journal

2011-12-18T17:51:00.002-06:00

posted by chicago pop

[You may have noticed that I've been on a little bit of a hiatus from blogging lately, but a number of kind readers have encouraged me to quit loafing and get into my sweatpants (as one is clothed when blogging, by definition). Yes, there is still stuff going on in this fine neighborhood, a lot of it promising, such as what follows. And if you really think something should be up on this space, let me know: sending me stuff is the best way to get an issue broadcast. Because I'm lazy.]

Old news, yes, but worth excerpting: this good summary of Harper Court from the Wall Street Journal (paywall), which highlights the fact that this $134 million project is exceptional for being a major counter-cyclical investment. In the midst of a continued global recession and tight credit in real estate lending nationwide, there is nothing comparable to it on the South Side, and little else in Chicago or equivalent neighborhoods in other metro areas. How is this possible according to the laws of economics?

Why, it's the Chicago School, of course.

In a new bid to revitalize an area just north of its campus, the University of Chicago is subsidizing the mixed-use project, known as Harper Court, through various forms of assistance.

The university is selling land to the developer for $1 million that it bought for about $9 million; it is guaranteeing the $22 million construction loan on the 130-room hotel; and it is leasing the full 150,000 square feet of office space. Further, the city of Chicago is putting in about $20 million in a subsidy that comes from forgone future taxes on the site.

The moves provided the spark for a development that wouldn't have occurred otherwise, in a neighborhood long eschewed by investors. A formal groundbreaking occurred earlier this month at the site in Hyde Park, a neighborhood filled with students, university staff and faculty. By and large, poorer neighborhoods surround it, and large new private developments have been few and far between.

The university has a history in Chicago of steadily expanding its campus with new dorms, labs and classrooms. But that isn't what's behind this foray into the real-estate investment arena. Rather, it is being fueled by a desire to make the area around its campus more attractive to its students and faculty.

"We're not trying to flip these properties for profit," says David Green, executive vice president at the University of Chicago. "We're trying to really help invest in a way to spur development in the area."

Taking the role of both master planner and pioneer investor, universities in economically struggling urban areas have increasingly taken the lead on commercial developments to improve the livability of their neighborhoods.

The Journal points out, as we have on the blog, that other institutions like Penn have pursued similarly aggressive development agendas when it seemed that the market was unwilling to make major bets on the neighborhood. Of course, this entails a risk, but so does the choice to run a top-tier research university in a neighborhood that often only minimally meets basic standards of service and amenities expected by its staff and students.

53rd Street is singled out, to no great surprise, as full of potential but wanting over the last few years.

Harper Court, on 53rd Street, is a historic retail strip, dotted with a hodgepodge of retail outlets, from banks to a mattress store. Its Valois Cafeteria, a classic neighborhood eatery, has occasionally been visited by President Obama upon his returns to Chicago.

But the university has higher aspirations. "It hasn't been a great neighborhood street, or a real destination where there's an interesting mix of shops and services," says Mr. Green.

Elsewhere on 53rd Street, the efforts of the school are aimed at renovating older buildings. Earlier this year, it began renovating an old movie theater, and it leased a storefront it owns to a 24-hour diner.

"You have a real healthy combination of interesting development opportunities and good buildings with interesting space," says Josh Sirefman, a consultant for the university on the revitalization and a former New York City economic development official.

Based on the tall cranes and fencing around the Harper Court lot, and the spiffed up Herald Building now home to Five Guys, so far things look like a good bet. The kind of bet that probably should have been made a long time ago.

Public Meeting on Police Districts 2 and 21 (Hyde Park - Kenwood) Merging -- Ald. Will Burns Presiding

2011-10-16T15:26:00.001-05:00

posted by chicago pop

Much of Hyde Park - Kenwood is in the Chicago Police Department's 21st District, pictured above. As a part of Mayor Rahm Emmanuel's proposed budget, this district would be one of three citywide that would be consolidated with surrounding districts as a cost-saving measure. The rationale for this, in the case of Hyde Park's 21st District, is the fact that because of the relatively low number of 911 calls originating in the lakefront area, it is considered to be low crime and not in need of a dedicated district office and staff. The proposal therefore calls for the 21st to be merged with the neighboring 2nd (Wentworth, pictured below) that includes the area west of Cottage Grove to the Dan Ryan Expressway.

Based on discussion at a recent 21st District CAPS meeting, CPD representatives made it clear that if this consolidation goes through, police manpower will go where the 911 calls are. This is predominantly west of Cottage Grove. As a result, response time to 911 calls from Hyde Park - Kenwood could lengthen. If Hyde Park - Kenwood is as safe as this scenario assumes, then all is well, and the University of Chicago police should be able to pick up the slack. Or, if this is not the case, or if local crime takes the form of isolated sprees by individuals or groups, then these sprees could run longer, cause more damage, tax the U of C's police force, and aggravate the neighborhood's reputation as 'unsafe'.

CBS Chicago sums it up:

The Prairie District station at 300 E. 29th St. dates from 1952. It serves an oddly-shaped precinct, extending north of Cermak Road and west to the Penn Central railroad tracks to include Chinatown and parts of Bronzeville, then proceeding south down the lakefront east of Cottage Grove Avenue.

At its southern edge, the district borders include the entire Hyde Park neighborhood except for Jackson Park, and extend south to 61st Street between Cottage Grove and Dorchester avenues so as to include the entire U of C campus.

The U of C also has its own private police department, which patrols even farther south into the neighboring Grand Crossing District.

But the Chicago Sun-Times recently pointed out that the nearly 60-year-old station could be merged with the Wentworth District to the west, given that its resources are no longer dominated by crime in the now-demolished Robert Taylor and Stateway Gardens public housing high-rises along the State Street corridor.

Yet, while crime in Hyde Park and around the U of C campus is vastly lower than in many nearby neighborhoods, security is still a concern.

If you have any questions or concerns about this little-publicized bureaucratic reform, there is a public meeting on the issue with 4th Ward Alderman Will Burns tomorrow night at:

4935 S. Dorchester

St. Paul the Redeemer Church

6-8PM

Subject: Consolidation of the 21st and 2nd Police Districts

Good Stuff Happening: Earl Shapiro Hall

2011-09-22T15:01:00.000-05:00

posted by richard gill

After years of development inactivity, Hyde Park seems to be up and moving. One big project getting under way is Earl Shapiro Hall, which will house the new Early Childhood Center of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. The start of construction is imminent; the Center is scheduled to open in the Autumn of 2013.

On September 17, on the site at 5800 So. Stony Island Ave., an enormous outdoor party celebrated the groundbreaking. People were issued hardhats and chrome-plated shovels for groundbreaking photos in front of construction equipment. There were plastic shovels and pails that children used for "excavation," music and balloons and even a Lego construction game. The food was for all generations—tacos, chicken, veggies, gourmet sliders, hot pretzels, sno-cones, Good Humor bars, popsicles, soft drinks, lemonade, and bulk candy.

For 90 years, the site had been occupied by Illinois Central Hospital, one of two medical facilities that the railroad had operated for its employees as well as the public. In recent decades, the building had changed ownership and names and finally closed. It was razed in early 2011 to make way for the school. It's good to see good stuff happening in the neighborhood.

Will a Redistricted 5th Ward Include Hyde Park?

2011-08-05T11:44:00.001-05:00

posted by richard gill

Chicago’s ward boundary lines are being redrawn, and the 5th Ward may no longer include any part of Hyde Park. Would that it were so. Hyde Park Progress has long been critical of 5th Ward Alderman Leslie Hairston, and we supported another candidate, Anne Marie Miles, in the February 2011 Aldermanic election. Miles lost. Hairston won and will be 5th Ward Alderman for at least another four years. That’s unfortunate. A perusal of this blog’s posts over the past couple of years will detail our beefs with Leslie Hairston. For one thing, small interest groups easily intimidate her, and she won’t take a position if she senses the smallest amount of discord.

Hyde Park is largely divided between the 4th and 5th Wards. The line runs along 55th Street, Lake Park Avenue, and 53rd Street. The redistricting may, or may not, put all or more of Hyde Park in the 4th Ward (Ald. Will Burns), the 20th (Ald. Willie Cochran), the 7th (Ald. Sandi Jackson), or 3rd (Ald. Pat Dowell). Any of these four Aldermen hold promise be an improvement, if for no other reasons than that they seem inclined to get things done, and confront buffeting winds when necessary.

The remap process, of course, is a contest of self-interest among the 50 Aldermen. Beyond the legal requirements of contiguity within wards and substantially equal populations among wards, the boundary lines are allowed to wiggle and twist, so that wards can acquire all manner of bizarre arms and tentacles. Take a look at the current Chicago ward map at www.cityofchicago.org and click on Chicago Government.

The new boundaries won’t take effect immediately, but it’s likely the incumbents will run again. It’s not too hard to believe that future Aldermen representing Hyde Park will have drawn the short straw. Hyde Park is known to exhibit all manner of silliness, obstructionism, hysteria and outright craziness over all matters big and small. Among the Aldermen themselves, the question may be: do they want us?

Beware the Maroon Candyman! RedEye's Take on HP Media

2011-08-05T11:38:00.002-05:00

posted by chicago pop

HPP comentator and neighborhood blogger for the Tribune's RedEye website Melissa Conway gives her humorous take on the Hyde Park media situation - such as it is - in this little piece. (Not that we're a news organization or anything, or even track anything very regularly; we just have something to say once in a while):

First, there’s the local neighborhood paper, the Hyde Park Herald. It’s been around forever – no for real, since 1882 they say – and occasionally, their viewpoint seems stuck there. While it’s relatively informative about what’s going on in the neighborhood, I also sense a decidedly doomsday undercurrent whenever it comes to any new development or redevelopment in the neighborhood. This is reflective of a fear shared by many long-time Hyde Parkers – this sense of not wanting the neighborhood to evolve past anything they’ve already known it to be.

When I’m looking for an alternative perspective on the development going on in the neighborhood, I turn to a blog called Hyde Park Progress... The recent purchase of Borders by U of C is a current topic on the site It seems that whenever the University purchases property in Hyde Park, there is a fear in the air that warns, “Beward the Maroon candyman! He is only here to steal your property, and turn it into office buildings that will only benefit them, and not the community!”

Check out RedEye's dedicated Hyde Park blog for snippets of lifestyle and current events. Another source on the hood.

[Image source: http://neighborhoods.redeyechicago.com/hyde-park/2011/07/29/news-to-me/ ]

U of C Buys Borders Building on 53rd: Possible Trader Joe's Location?

2011-07-22T16:43:00.002-05:00

posted by chicago pop

Some time back we had heard rumors about the University buying the Border's building at 53rd and Lake Park if it ever became available. To this was coupled a related rumor that Trader Joe's might be interested in that particular location, if it ever became available.

Well, it has now become available, through one of the most spectacular, non-corruption-induced corporate collapses in recent memory, and as a result, the first rumor has become fact. The U of C now owns the old Border's building. Selling price for the building has not been disclosed, and no possible tenants have been mentioned.

So the big question is, will the second rumor come true? It seems pretty clear what 'the street' in Hyde Park would prefer. Is there room on the south side for another TJ's following the new store on Roosevelt Road?

[Image source: Redeye, http://neighborhoods.redeyechicago.com/hyde-park/2011/06/29/whats-next-for-borders-building/]

Only Jerks Ride Their Bikes on the Sidewalk

2011-06-22T18:55:00.004-05:00

The video PSA is meant for New Yorkers, but applies to Chicago and to Hyde Park as well, where any number of adult douchebags do this.

Note: it's against the law. Further note: when you do this, in addition to being a blatant douchebag, you are a hazard to pedestrians -- especially small children. So your fear is not an excuse. Don't like the road? Get off and walk it.

Further note: These people need to be ticketed. In some cases, they should (and can be) arrested. The last 4th Ward Alderman agreed, but pointed out that the way to make it happen was to raise the subject at a CAPS meeting. I'll see you there.

Furthest note: got video of a douchebag like this in HP? Send it to me.

-posted by chicago pop

U of C Public Planning/Zoning Meeting Tonight

2011-06-22T15:53:00.000-05:00

posted by Elizabeth Fama

This evening the U of C is holding a public meeting at the International House, 1414 East 59th Street, at 6 PM.

From a U of C official:

The University as a whole is in a planned development zone, and is working with the city right now to update the zone. As part of that process there will be public hearings. Some of the issues that come up have to do with height of buildings, what is in the zone (the University has acquired property since the zone was last formed), etc. The city has requirements for which neighbors should be notified about any planned changes — essentially all residents within 250 feet of the zone perimeter. That group received a letter. In addition, we have done some stories about this to be sure it is much more public.

Saturday on 53rd St: The Flirty Cupcake Van

2011-06-18T17:08:00.002-05:00

Whilst making our market rounds this Saturday afternoon, imagine our surprise when, directly before Rajun Cajun, steps from the meditative fiberglass Red Man, and across the street from the ever-scaffolded Herald Building, we chanced upon - Lo! - a cupcake van.

Yes, that's right. A cupcake van.

No sooner had we paused to consult the banner of cupcake offerings, both wondrous and manifold, than a line formed behind us. The treats are not cheap, but lovers of cupcakes have come to expect a premium for such imaginative toppings as bannana-strawberry cream and pineapple rum cakes. You may also be struck by the advanced design of the cupcake packaging, surely the most damage-proof and user friendly cupcake packaging yet devised.

And they come to you. A winning strategy: behold the hunger for mid-afternoon cupcakes on a Saturday afternoon.

The van is run by Flirty Cupcakes, a caterer operating out of the West Side, but fully mobile, and with scheduled stops all over Chicago-Land, including the 1500 E. block of 53rd Street on Saturdays from 3 o'clock onward. (Their van is tracked on Flirty's Facebook page).

Try them and come back to let us know what you think.

Citizen Outcry over CPD Absence during Memorial Day Chaos

2011-06-08T22:55:00.001-05:00

posted by chicago pop

From the local news aggregator Everyblock Chicago, a string of commentary following the Memorial Day murder at the 57th and LSD pedestrian underpass. A common theme: absence of the Chicago Police Department until well after the posted hour for park closing; the presence, among large numbers of peaceful park users, of roving gangs of aggressive young males; reckless driving near the lakefront. All ongoing for several hours with no visible law enforcement presence to act as a deterrent or punish violations.

In contrast to the attention lavished on the relatively minor 'flash mob' incidents along the Magnificent Mile - by the media, the CPD, and even the Mayor of Chicago - this incident has dropped off the headlines. The CPD did, however, stage a public 'roll call' several days afterwards - long after the killers had disappeard, and when the Point was mostly empty of the people who use it.

Read the open letter from one Ms. "Laura Hussein" (and following discussion at Everyblock, some of which is excerpted here). All of the communications below were made public by their author:

Dear friends: Here is a copy of the letter I sent to the Univ Chi Police, 5th ward alderman, Mayor and Toni Preckwinkle. Please feel free to use this, edit this, and pass on to people who can help!
-----------------------------------------------
Dear Ms. Hairston,
We are very saddened to learn of the death of Aeyanuna Rogers, a 22 year old Northern Illinois University graduate, who was shot and killed on the pathway between the Point and the 57th street Beach at 11pm 5/30/2011, Memorial Day evening. We understand a 17 year old boy was shot in the leg and wounded near the restrooms of the 57th street beach.
I see that the Chicago Park district states that the Beach closes at 7pm, and Promontory Point park closes at 9pm, yet last night thousands of people were at the Point and the Beach well past these times.
For the past two years, since the opening of the Bar Louie restaurant, and particularly with the closing of the Shoreland Dormitory, we here in East View, 5490, The Park Shore, The Flamingo, and 5500 S South Shore Drive have witnessed a dramatic surge in large numbers of people coming to this area on warm days and evenings. People come to enjoy Promontory Point, the 57th Street Beach, and Bar Louie. However, after 3pm and extending until sunrise on warm days and nights, people also sit in parked cars and there are drug deals and acts of prostitution.
We know the University and CIty Police Departments are well aware of the correlation between the first warm days and a sharp spike in crime. For this reason it was shocking that as thousands of people came to this area on 5/30/11, we saw very little police presence from the CPD and the UCPD.
It's hard to understand how so much manpower and effort could be made at one Beach location (North Beach), while the 57th street Beach did not even have a car patrol or bike police visible for most of the afternoon and evening, until well after 10pm.
We're very concerned that without a significant effort made toward 'peace-keeping' policing by both the CPD and UCPD, this will be just the beginning of a great deal of violence this summer.
After two years of very explicit concerns relayed, and now this death and additional shooting, we hope we can count on Police presence on friday, saturday and sunday evenings, and holidays, at a bare minimum?
I am also sending a letter to the Chicago Police Department for our precinct, and Robert Mason, head of Safety and Security for the University Police, as well as Board County President Toni Preckwinkle, and Mayor Rahm Emmanuel.
http://www.chicagonewsreport.com/2011/05/aeyanuna-rogers-recent-college-grad.html
Sincerely,
Laura 'Hussein'

Below I have copied my correspondence on this activity to the University Police from a year ago:
-----Original Message-----
From: Laura
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 12:11 PM
Subject: Car and pedestrian traffic creating potential accidents at 55th and South Shore drive.
Dear Mr. Nimrocks-
I am a resident of S. South Shore Drive in east Hyde Park, 60615.
I am writing to bring to your attention the situation at 55th and South Shore Drive. With the arrival of warm weather we've seen an increase of people enjoying the park and the beach near 55th and South Shore drive. While this is expected, in past years due to the presence of the University's Shoreland Dormitory, we could count on a police presence on evenings and weekends, when pedestrian and car traffic peak.
My husband, neighbors, doormen, and I were very concerned yesterday however, to see more cars and people than we've ever seen in 6 years of living here, with no police presence until 10:30pm after complaints were phoned in.
My concerns are primarily about the sheer number of people, the number of cars and the chaos of the traffic when there are no police presence, and the inevitable safety risks that may follow.
From 2pm onward yesterday the car traffic was such that cars were speeding from 3 directions, trying to proceed north on south shore, while cars coming from the north turing right and left onto 55th were speeding through the stop sign without slowing down. We saw many pedestrians/bikers trying to cross through the cross walk with cars flowing through the cross walk 3 abreast, competing for a spot in the narrow lane with complete disregard for pedestrians and other vehicles.
By 9pm we noticed that the car traffic was still as busy and dangerously chaotic, and in addition there were approximately 300 people lining South SHore drive, sitting on the tops of parked vehicles, sitting on the chain-link fence of 5490, standing in and around the parked cars, while traffic continued to present safety risks. In addition, there were approximately 200 more people in the grass and closer to the under pass leading to the Point.
The majority of the people were calm individuals enjoying the warm night, but there were also large groups of young adult males who appeared dressed in street-gang type roaming up and down the street, calling out to and harassing pedestrians and people in cars. There were doubled parked vehicles with loud music and people entering and exiting these stopped vehicles, which were blocking the flow of traffic until it was at a stand-still most of the night from 9-10:30 when the police arrived.
Our doorman who has worked at this location for a decade noted that he had never seen the crowd as large, chaotic and unruly as he observed last night, 5/23.
Most alarming is that 55th and South shore appears to be a destination in warm weather for more potentially nefarious activity as well, as noted by Mrs. Heather Refetoff last year at this same time. Namely, the area around "the Pointe" at 55th and South Shore appears to be a summer "destination" for drug sale and use, street partying with loud music, food, drink and sexual activity, as evidenced by the empty bottles, used drug paraphernalia, and dirty condoms visible on the street this morning.
I have placed a call with our Alderman, Leslie Harrison, and plan to contact the local CIty of Chicago police dept. as well to make clear our concerns. We are also counting on the University Police dept. to take action as there are many faculty members and graduate students of the University, and countless children of the University of Chicago Lab school, still residing in this area of east Hyde Park.
In the past, Police presence has dramatically reduced the chaos and "scofflaw" patterns of the traffic, and it has also put a damper on the marauding young males and some of the drug and alcohol consumption in and around the parked cars.
We are requesting that you consult with the city, and find a way to ensure the presence of a patrol car near the parking lot at the end of 55th street, and another car at the cul-de-sac where south shore meets Lake Shore Drive, in order to monitor the growing pedestrian and car traffic and diffuse the more illegal activities before this situation presents yet another Hyde Park "crime disaster" such as those that have graced the headlines of the local media over the past few years, further justifying the northside/suburban
perception that the University of Chicago and Hyde Park is a crime-infested neighborhood.
Thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this developing situation, and please let me know if I can assist in any manner.
Sincerely,
Laura

----- Original Message -----
From: "Heather Refetoff" <hrefetoff@sprynet.com>
To: "Rudy Nimocks" <rend@uchicago.edu>
Cc: "Robert J. Zimmer" ; "Eleanor Coe"
; "Onel, Kenan" ;
"Laura Lambert" ; "Corinne Morrissey"
<6morriss@jmls.edu>; "Diane Lukoff" <diane_lukoff@comcast.net>
Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2008 12:23 PM
Subject: Re: 55th and South Shore
Thank you for your prompt response to my complaint about the street
activity
at 55th and South Shore Dr. May I make the following points, which I hope
will be helpful.
1. The unpleasant activity on the street is not Park related per se, it seems to ebb and flow throughout the year to a greater or lesser degree directly related to the amount of police surveillance. Naturally it is greater in summer because with warm weather people stay on the streets for longer periods; partying in and around parked cars is no doubt uncomfortable
in winter.

2. I have a direct view of the parking lot entrance from where I often
sit in the evening and activity can pick up instantly creating an absolute carousel of cars through the parking lot, which ceases as soon as a squad car turns up.

3. People on the street is not the issue, it is the behavior of some that is the problem, and that element has increased this summer more than in the past ten years that I have lived here. In recent years I worry about safety when coming home in the evenings to park on the street.

4. I believe that this parking lot and adjacent streets have become a "destination" for the problems I mentioned in my letter to President Zimmer,namely drug sale and use, street partying with loud music, food, drink and sexual activity, as evidenced by the refuse on the street and confirmed by conversations with City police patrolmen. There has also been the
beginnings this summer of some very noisy motorcycle presence. I think the situation needs to be diffused before it presents yet another Hyde Park "crime disaster" such as those that have graced the headlines of the local media this past one or two years, further justifying the
northside/suburban perception that the University of Chicago and Hyde Park is a crime
infested neighborhood.

5. Finally I would again like to mention that despite the summer decrease in the student population of the Shoreland there is a very sizable number of graduate students resident in the Flamingo, we currently have four post docsthere, three single women in the late twenties and one male, (2 Italian, 1 Spanish and 1 German). I would hate to have any one of them become victim
to the current evening and late night activity on their doorstep. May I avail myself of your email to comment further as matters progress?

Heather Refetoff
On 7/26/08 10:34 AM, "Rudy Nimocks" <rend@uchicago.edu> wrote:
Dear Ms Refetoff:
We are aware of the problem and will be working with Commander Doty in order
to devise a long term summer collaborative patrol strategy specifically for that area. You are absolutely on point, we are being victimized by one of our most important community successes, good public safety. This problem is particularly perplexing because we cannot deny access to public streets and recreational areas to anyone, but it is nevertheless a problem we must
seriously address. I promise you we will do precisely that.

Rudy Nimocks
Chief of Police
and Security Services
University of Chicago
and Seurity Security Services
--------------------------

Whole Foods coming to 51st and Lake Park, will anchor 'Village Center' by 2014

2011-05-04T18:33:00.001-05:00

From an Antheus Capital press release, May 4, 2011:

Antheus Capital is delighted to announce that Whole Foods has signed a lease to serve as the anchor tenant in our redevelopment of the shopping center in the south west corner of 51st and Lake Park in the Hyde Park community. This lease represents a powerful endorsement of Hyde Park by the world’s leading natural and organic foods supermarket.

Much work remains to bring this project to fruition but we are gratified by this milestone and appreciative of the significant time and effort invested by former Alderman Preckwinkle and her successors, Alderman Newsome and Alderman Burns, in making this possible. We also acknowledge and appreciate Alderman Leslie Hairston's leadership in improving Hyde Park

The mixed-use project is designed by Jeanne Gang and Studio Gang Architects and includes 179 residential units, 110,000 square feet of retail and office space and two levels of underground parking. Chicago City Council approved the Planned Development in the fall of 2010. The stores and residences are expected to open in 2014.

Also coming to the neighborhood, the Chicago chain of diners, Clarke's. This will be Hyde Park's first 24-hour dining spot. 53rd Street has hit a tipping point. Here's the U of C press release of May 2:

The University of Chicago is bringing Clarke’s restaurant, a 24-hour Chicago-area diner, to 53rd Street in Hyde Park.

The all-night eatery is the latest business to declare its intentions for Hyde Park’s commercial corridor, following announcements this spring of plans for a hotel, a movie theater and another restaurant. Together with the mixed-use development at Harper Court, the new businesses reflect the initiative of the community, the City and the University to promote new vitality along the corridor.

The project, which is slated for completion in 2013, will include 150,000 square feet of office space leased to the University of Chicago, 440 parking spaces and approximately 80,000 square feet of retail space in addition to the hotel.
Scheduled to open later this year, Clarke’s will offer a wide variety of menu choices, including specialty salads, stir-fry dishes, sandwiches and a host of additional breakfast, lunch and dinner items. The restaurant addresses a longstanding interest among students and other community members for more late-night options.

Established in 1986, Clarke’s has existing locations in Lincoln Park, Evanston, Lakeview and Bucktown as well as a new restaurant to soon open in River North.
“We look forward to serving the Hyde Park area as always with quality food and quality customer service,” said Steve Dion, owner of Clarke’s restaurants. “We are also excited about the future plans of development in Hyde Park, and we are eager to be part of it.”

Clarke’s will occupy 4,000 square feet within the 1451 E. 53rd St. building, which the University purchased earlier this month. T-Mobile occupies the remaining space.

University officials announced earlier that later this year, Five Guys restaurant would become the inaugural tenant in the office and theater buildings at 53rd Street and Harper Avenue. The buildings, which the University owns and is currently renovating, also will house The New 400 Theaters, a local movie operator that will showcase art, children’s and wide-release films when it opens in 2012.

“We are continuing to work closely with the community and the City to bring the right mix of restaurants and retail businesses along with entertainment venues to Hyde Park that residents and students have been asking for to help improve the quality of life,” said James Hennessy, Director of Commercial Real Estate Operations for the University.

The University is also partnering with the City and civic leaders to build a mixed-use complex as part of an ambitious redevelopment of the Harper Court property. Last December, Vermilion Development signed an agreement with Smart Hotels to develop a Hyatt Place 130-room hotel in Harper Court, which is slated to become the centerpiece of the complex. Smart Hotels signed the franchise agreement with Hyatt Place.

Officials said additional retail and entertainment announcements are expected within the next few months.

Whoo hoo!

Come to Harold Washington Park Advisory Council Meeting Wed April 27

2011-04-21T10:42:00.001-05:00

The Harold Washington Park Advisory Council is recently formed and looking for neighbors who use or care about one of Hyde Park's oldest and most beautiful parks. Come share your ideas and concerns with the Advisory Council as we head into summer 2011!

Harold Washington Park Advisory Council (HWPAC) meeting, Wednesday, April 27, 6:30 pm, Hyde Park Art Center. All are welcome.

Decorative Tile, Condo Wall at Harper and 57th

2011-04-19T16:45:00.000-05:00

posted by chicago pop

Drs Hospital: Preservationists Aren't Crying Over Demolition

2011-04-15T15:54:00.000-05:00

posted by richard gill

Illinois Central Hospital has succumbed to the wrecking ball. Steeped in railroad lore, the 95-year-old building at 5800 South Stony Island Avenue, occupied nearly a city block. After 1973, when the Illinois Central Railroad sold the building, it operated as Hyde Park Community Hospital and Doctors Hospital. Several years ago, it was closed and, as covered extensively in Hyde Park Progress, has been the focus of pain and strife——pain and strife of a brand that Hyde Park often seems to revel in.

As the fate of the building was debated, self-proclaimed preservationists tried in vain to make their case. When some of them suggested saving at least the front semicircular driveway, portico and entrance, it was pointed out that those were additions made in the late 20th Century. Indeed the original entrance was a small stairway and a door Think the hospital entrance in The Godfather, where Michael Corleone and the baker protected Vito Corleone from assassins.

The IC Hospital served the public and was free to the railroad’s employees. If you worked anywhere on the railroad from Cairo, Illinois (pron. Karrow) north, you used the IC Hospital in Chicago. South of Cairo, you went to the IC’s southern hospital, which was either in Jackson, Mississippi or Memphis, Tennessee. Chicago headquarters notwithstanding, the IC was at heart a southern company. Even in the Chicago offices, there was plenty of drawling and ya’lling, not to mention the twanging that sprang forth from the Iowa Division.

I will remember the hospital fondly, except of course for the lower GI portion of the compulsory annual physical. Administered without sedation, the exam was conducted with a now-little-used rigid instrument called a Proctoscope. It was about a foot long, the size of a piccolo, but in railroad mythology had the dimensions of a Louisville Slugger.

So, farewell, old temple of medicine. You did not pass quietly into the night, but your absence will do Hyde Park the favor of having one less thing over which to Proctoscope itself.

Hyatt Hotel Coming to Harper Court

2011-03-03T16:04:00.014-06:00

posted by chicago pop

The symbol of the University of Chicago is, being situated in a city famous for having once burnt to the ground, a phoenix. The symbolism remains vital, as the hotel that Hyde Park almost got in the 5th Ward on Stony Island and 58th Street will now be resurrected and take shape on the site of the old Harper Court, on Harper at 52nd.

The 53rd Street renaissance continues at a dizzying pace.

From Curbed Chicago:

Harper Court Partners released some details this morning about the hotel operator for Hyde Park's Harper Court. Olympia Chicago LLC and Smart Hotels, a company that specializes in campus hotels, have been selected to build and operate Hyatt Place Chicago @ Hyde Park. The six-story, 130-room hotel will be located on Harper, just north of 52nd Place, according to Christopher Dillion from Vermilion Development. The hotel, which is set to open in 2013, will feature underground parking, a restaurant, wine bar, pool, and fitness facilities....

From Crain's Chicago Business:

“A quality hotel has been a longstanding need for the community,” Dave Cocagne, president of Chicago-based Vermilion, says in the statement. “It will play a key role in the development of the 53rd Street corridor.”
Financing for the hotel is being provided by Recovery Zone Facility Bonds to be issued by the Illinois Finance Authority. Smart specializes in campus hotels, though no properties are identified on the company’s website, while Olympia operates 16 hotels, according to Vermilion’s press release.
Vermilion tapped the Smart Hotels-Olympia venture after issuing a request for proposals from hoteliers last fall.
Mr. Cocagne in January said Vermilion had letters of intent for 60% of the project’s roughly 80,000 square feet of retail space. The first phase, which has a roughly $100-million budget, is to include the hotel, retail and a 150,000-square-foot office building to be used at least partially by the university.

And, from the developers themselves:

Smart Hotels/Olympia Chicago LLC has been selected to build and operate the hotel, planned for Harper Avenue, just north of 53rd Street. Plans call for the LEED-designed hotel to have approximately 130 rooms, [and be] a destination on evenings and weekends, as well as during the work week.

Ed Small, President of Smart Hotels, said his team looks forward to presenting the preliminary hotel design to the community in March.

"This is an outstanding opportunity for us to bring a quality, environmentally-friendly hotel to Hyde Park," Small said. "The University, the City, IFA and MB Financial did extraordinary work to help us secure the project financing."

Hyatt Place Chicago @ Hyde Park is scheduled to open in 2013, to coincide with Phase I of the Harper Court redevelopment, which will also include retail, office, and outdoor spaces. Chicago-based LEgat Architects has been engaged to design the hotel.

The Olympia Companies has been in operation since 1969 and currently operates 16 hotel properties.

"We are excited to extent our portfolio of hotels to such a dynamic community and world-class university," said Kevin Mahaney, President and CEO of The Olympia Companies.