Editor

"It was worth it," Ald. Helen Shiller (46th) tells invited guests at the long-awaited opening of the new Target store at Wilson Yard.

After 12 years of planning, stutter steps, community blowback and an attempt by residents to seek a temporary injunction to halt the construction of the TIF-financed Wilson Yard development, a beaming Helen Shiller threw open the doors to what may be the lasting legacy of her nearly 25-year reign as the 46^th Ward alderman.

Shiller was joined by Mayor Richard M. Daley, State Rep. Greg Harris (13^th District), Wilson Yard developer Peter Holsten and a host of other luminaries in cutting the ceremonial ribbon for the soft opening of the new Target store on Tuesday morning.

“By way of thanks there were many people involved who put a great deal of effort into realizing this development for the community,” Shiller told the crowd of invited guests, flanked by the 311 red-shirted “fast, fun and friendly” new hires at the Target store.

“There were times when it seemed it wasn’t going to happen because of the controversy of the affordability,” Shiller added.

Daley praised Shiller for bringing the “CTA, retail and [Truman] college together with affordability.”

“Anything you do in life in development is controversial. You have to be on a mission,” Daley said. “Anybody would have given up just like that, but Helen had the objective.”

Daley vowed that residents would soon forget about the controversy surrounding Wilson Yard with the opening of the new Target and affordable housing, which is now completely filled.

“People will look back and say this is one of the best things to happen to Uptown,” the mayor said. “[Shiller] took a lot of flack up here from a lot of people.”

“It was worth it,” Shiller said.

Touting the benefits of the city’s tax increment financing program, Daley praised Wilson Yard as a successful development and that “represents one of the best and most important uses of tax increment financing funds today.”

Daley said that Wilson Yard provided 260 temporary construction jobs and 350 permanent jobs at the new Target. He placed the total TIF funds used for development projects within the Wilson Yard TIF district at $54 million.

In addition, the development includes a $32.3 million affordable senior apartment complex with 98 one-bedroom units for residents age 55 and over earning at or below 50 percent of the area median income. The city invested up to $20 million in tax exempt bonds, which helped leverage $12,2 million in tax credit equity; $6.8 million in loans and $11.7 in TIF assistance for the Wilson Yard project, according to a press release distributed at the morning ceremony.

The 80 affordable family units at 1026 W. Montrose were funded by the Illinois Housing Development Authority, an Aldi store and ten smaller store spaces, four of which already have signed leases with three others in the works, also make the massive mixed development.

Another $14 million generated from the Wilson Yard TIF is also being used to fund two other projects in Uptown, including the renovation and preservation of 59 units of affordable housing at the Clifton-Magnolia Apartments on the 4400 block of North Clifton and the construction of a new 7-story student center and parking garage at Truman College.

Target associate Kristy Butler (from left to right), Wilson Yard resident Yolanda Holmes, Mayor Daley, Peter Holsten and Ald. Helen Shiller get ready to cut the ceremonial ribbon at Wednesday's opening of the new Target store at Wilson Yard.

As if speaking to the development’s many community critics, Holsten, the developer, stating that “Target didn’t come here free – they had to pay.”

Holsten defended the length of time it took to get the project off the ground. He thanked the dozen or so financers of the project, including LSC, IDHA, Bridgeview and other private banks for floating loans and buying tax credits to realize Wilson Yard in the midst of economic turmoil and escalation of construction materials and costs.

“When you work closely with an elected official there’re a lot of constituents out there that you have to please,” he said. “That’s why these projects take so long.”

About 85 percent of Target’s 311-strong work force come from the Uptown neighborhood or live within two miles of the community.

Kristy Butler, a Target team member and Uptown resident of 16 years who transferred to work at the new store, declared she was happy to be working closer to home.

“I can now live and work in my community and save money on public transportation,” Butler said.

Jubilantly waving a remnant of the ceremonial ribbon, Shiller looked every inch the aldermanic candidate for her seat on the City Council, putting the lie to her detractors who said the Target store wasn’t opening. Shiller is said to be making an announcement about her re-election plans the week of August 8, a source told Lake Effect News.

“Target is going to create the critical mass for smaller businesses in the neighborhood to feed off of that,” Shiller said.

The grand opening for the Wilson Yard Target store is Sunday, July 25, however, the store is open to neighborhood shoppers starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Editor

Molly Phelan after announcing her candidacy for 46th Ward alderman on Wednesday at Nick's Uptown in Buena Park.

Painting her candidacy for 46^th Ward alderman in wide, broad strokes, Molly Phelan took her campaign beyond ward confines and presented the “big picture” of what is needed to reform City Council and get the city back on track.

Phelan, who engineered the Fix Wilson Yard residents’ 2008 lawsuit against the City of Chicago for alleged TIF abuses relating to the planning of the Wilson Yard TIF District, announced her candidacy for 46^th Ward alderman before a packed room of 200 supporters at Nick’s Uptown on Wednesday.

“My name is Molly Phelan, and I want to be your alderman,” the property tax attorney announced.

Phelan was introduced to the crowd by Uptown resident Judy Glazebrook, one of the plaintiffs in the Fix Wilson Yard lawsuit. Glazebrook called Phelan “tenacious” and “courageous” in her approach to tackling community issues.

 “My husband and I have lived in Uptown since 1978 and for most of those 32 years this community has suffered under misguided leadership and a host of problems that resulted,” Glazebrook said. “Not only does the 46^th Ward need this independent and energetic councilwoman, the City Council needs her also.

Phelan is one of five challengers in the race so far for Ald. Helen Shiller’s seat on the City Council. Shiller is said to be making an announcement on whether she intends to run for another term in early August.

“A lot of you have asked me why I’m running for alderman,” Phelan said. “The short answer is I’m sick of it. I’m sick of the lying, I’m sick of the kids getting killed in our streets, and I’m sick of money being taken from our schools and given away in backroom deals in city hall. I’m sick of it.”

Describing a college internship with the Better Government Association, Phelan talked of participating in investigations targeting ghost payrollers at Chicago City Hall, and stopping land-based casinos from getting licenses in Chicago because of corruption concerns.

“My passion has always not been politics but good government,” she said. “That’s the underpinnings of why I’m here today.”

Phelan touted her background in commercial real estate and technology, before joining her family’s law firm Kearney and Phelan  She said that law school taught her a lot about “municipal law, realty law and property tax law,”

“Being a property tax attorney gives me great insight into the abuses of TIF laws and how it affects everybody in this room on a day-to-day basis about where your money is going and why property tax dollars are going up,” Phelan said. “It’s this background that’s going to allow me be the best alderman for you because I have the business, technical and legal experience.”

Condensing her campaign themes down to business development, transparency and the need for community, Phelan jabbed Shiller, stating the alderman wasn’t interested in bringing businesses to the ward.

“Now if I had $58 million in my pocket, I could get anyone to come to this ward,” Phelan said, mentioning the new Target store that was developed with public tax dollars from the Wilson Yard TIF. “I think we can get businesses to come to this ward without paying them, they should be paying us.”

Phelan also accused the City Council of “starving” Chicago Public Schools, calling it “irreproachable.”

“What company wants to transfer to Chicago if their employees can’t get their kids the education that they need and deserve,” she said.

The Chicago Police Department is also understaffed by 1,000 to 1,500 patrol officers, Phelan said she learned from a meeting with Ald. Scott Waugespak.

“Cops go out alone in patrol cars and can’t respond to calls right away because they need to wait for back up,” Phelan said. “We can’t have that in the 46^th Ward. We need immediate response; we need our cops to have better funding and better resources to fight crime.”

Saying there was “a difference between transparency and putting something up on a web site because a city ordinance tells you to do it,” Phelan vowed to bring “active transparency” to Chicago.

“I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen before it even happens. I’m going to tell you what’s in my mind and I’m going to have my open community meetings video-taped so that if you have to work late you didn’t miss it. You can go home and watch it on your computer,” Phelan said. “You’re not going to miss a thing because I’m giving it to you. You don’t have to find out anything about me because it’s going to be right there.”

Phelan chastised the ward’s current political leadership for “a lack of community,” a prevailing theme among this election’s crop of challengers.

“It’s my biggest concern in terms of winning this election,” Phelan said. “For several years our community has been polarized. We’ve been taught that it’s always the other person’s problem and not ours. I don’t believe that. We really, really need to reach out to neighbors and join together as a community because the thing that divides us right now is the thing that’s going to make us stronger in the long run.”

Phelan said the key to business development is in the ward’s cultural diversity.

 “The business community can absolutely thrive if we take all the cultures represented in the 46^th Ward and celebrate them,” she said. “That’s the underlying goal of my business development plan.”

She acknowledged that it would be a tough election, but said she would be knocking on doors and listening to voters’ concerns.

“This isn’t your ward, this isn’t my ward, this is not anybody’s ward,” she closed. “It’s our community.”

By LORRAINE SWANSONEditor

Molly Phelan presses for answers on Wilson Yard TIF expenditures during a meeting last year of the Wilson Yard Task Force at Truman College. (PHOTO/TOM MANNIS/CHICAGO NEWS BENCH)

Buena Park resident and attorney Molly Phelan announced her campaign kickoff for 46^th Ward alderman on Thursday, becoming the fifth challenger to enter the race.

Phelan is hosting a free event for residents on July 14 – Bastille Day – starting at 7:30 p.m. at Nick’s Uptown at 4015 N. Sheridan Road. A cash bar is included and all residents are invited to attend.

“It will be the start of another successful revolution, one which will bring Liberty, Equality and Community to the people of the 46^th Ward,” Phelan noted of the date in her press release.

An Uptown resident since 2005, Phelan was drafted by residents to help them in challenging the opening of a day labor office in Uptown at a meeting before the Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals in 2008. The labor company withdrew its plans to open an office in the community after residents took legal action against the ZBA which had approved the plans.

“What I kept seeing in the 46^th Ward was outraged citizens who had protested but no legal action had ever been taken,” Phelan said by phone on Thursday. “As an attorney, we hold our legal responsibilities and advocacy for the law very dear. My frustration was the lack of response that the alderman had given to the wishes of the community. I felt like somebody need to stand up and fight for them.”

Phelan also became a community spokeswoman for the need for TIF reform. As the head of the Fix Wilson Yard group, she engineered a lawsuit filed by residents gainst the city and developer of Wilson Yard, claiming that both parties had violated the state’s TIF laws when creating the Wilson Yard TIF District. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed by a judge on grounds that residents had waited too long to file it after the five-year statute of limitations ran out.  Litigation has since been put on hold with the option of renewing legal action before December 2010.

Long rumored to be considering a run for 46^th Ward alderman in 2011, Phelan’s announcement comes as little surprise to those who follow ward politics, including Ald. Helen Shiller, who in 2008 claimed that the Fix Wilson Yard lawsuit was “politically motivated” and Phelan’s campaign kick-off for alderman.

“Regardless of when I decided to run for alderman, Fix Wilson Yard was an issue that I was invited to participate in by other members of the community who saw me as a leader,” Phelan said.

Small business development and deference to police officers in solving ongoing criminal issues top her list of ward priorities.

“I believe that extreme attention needs to be paid to the lack of funding that’s being provided to our public schools right now,” she said.

Phelan serves on the boards of the Uptown Chicago Commission and Buena Park Neighbors. In addition to her pro-bono legal work for Stop Labor Ready and Fix Wilson Yard, she is a CAPS beat facilitator and has been involved with Uptown Business Partners and Girls On The Run.

 “I have taken every opportunity I can to make the 46^th Ward a strong, safe and prosperous community,” Phelan said in a press statement. “The people in this Ward have been neglected for over 20 years. Our schools are failing, our businesses are suffering, [and] our streets are not safe. The 46^th Ward needs swift and inspired leadership to bring prosperity and safety to this community. Everyone deserves better.”

So far, Phelan is the only woman in a field of male challengers, including the 2007 challenger, social worker James Cappleman; Chicago police officer Michael Carroll; social worker and former Alan Keyes political consultant Gerald Farinas; and 46^th Ward Streets and Sanitation Superintendent Don Nowotny.

Shiller is said to be making an announcement of her re-election plans in early August.

Phelan plans to run a grassroots campaign. For now, her campaign is staffed by volunteers but she plans to hire a professional campaign manager soon. She also said she will soon be posting her campaign platform on her website, phelan46.com.

“I think the people involved in this community already know some of the candidates pretty well.” Phelan said, “but there is a large portion of the community that’s not involved and I will make sure that I hear their concerns and help them as well.”

Lake Effect News received the following information from 48th Ward Ald. Mary Ann Smith’s office regarding traffic control and street closures in the area. The city’s 15-minute fireworks display starts at 9 p.m. on July 4, along the lakefront between Lawrence and Foster, which adds up to hours of traffic congestion and inconvience  for the neighborhood.

4.  Residents are advised to have identification with their home addresses.  If possible, be able to show you have reserved parking available

5.  Employees of businesses in the area, especially hospitals, residential buildings and nursing homes near Sheridan Road should be sure to have their employee identification with them to show traffic control personnel.

Editor

Police comb the crime scene at Wilson and Broadway after a shooting that left two men wounded on Sunday evening.

Pride Weekend ended on a note of violence in Uptown on Sunday night that left two people shot in a volley of gunfire.

Around 9:30 p.m. , ten gunshots  were heard being fired in close succession on Wilson Avenue between Sheridan and Broadway, sending dozens of teens running for their lives northbound Kenmore off of Wilson yelling that someone was shooting a gun.

Shots were first reported fired at Montrose and Lake Shore Drive, where a post-Pride Parade event had been taking place throughout the day at Montrose Harbor. A second report on the police scanner placed the shots at Clarendon Park, and a moment later, the shooting was placed at the McDonald’s on Wilson and Sheridan.

More than a hundred teens and young adults congregated outside of McDonald’s as police cars and fire trucks screamed westbound down Wilson Avenue. Many of them were leaving the Pride event at Montrose Harbor heading for the Wilson CTA Red Line Station when a woman pushing her baby stroller on the opposite direction warned, “They’re shooting at the train.”

Police responded immediately and were already stringing crime scene tape in front of City Sports on the northeast corner of Broadway and Sheridan just moments after receiving the shots-fired call. The House of Beauty on the 1000 block of West Wilson Avenue had also been cordoned off with crime scene tape

Police take a man into custody after a shooting in Uptown on Sunday evening.

As police were interviewing witnesses on the corner of Wilson and Broadway, others scoured the Wilson CTA Red Line Station searching for the shooter. Witnesses reported a shirtless black male wearing red shorts yelling anti-gay slurs, pulling out a gun and shooting inside the station.

Two male victims were taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital. Their conditions are unknown.

Police took a man matching witnesses’ description into custody. The man was placed into the back of a police squad car and driven away.

Officer Amina Greer of Police News Affairs placed the shooting at 9:30 p.m. on the 1000 block of Wilson Avenue.

As of 11 p.m., Wilson Avenue was still closed off. Ten numbered placards had been placed on the sidewalk in front of City Sports  where shell casings had been found.

More coverage of the shooting:

Shooting In Uptown, Chicago Leaves Two Injured

Uptown shooting, 06/27/2010

Editor

James Cappleman announces his candidacy for in the 2011 aldermanic race in the 46th Ward at Uptown's Sunnyside Mall on Saturday.

In a way, James Cappleman has never stopped campaigning for 46^th Ward alderman. His last defeat was seemingly a blip on the Doppler radar as he dusted himself off and hit the campaign trail the day after losing to Alderman Helen Shiller in 2007.

On Saturday, Cappleman formally announced his candidacy in a pointed campaign speech that took aim at an embattled incumbent who has yet to announce her re-election plans and three declared challengers, and others possibly standing  in the wings.

Cappleman chose the Sunnyside Mall to launch his 2011 campaign, a promenade known both for its community gardens and as one of Uptown’s most notorious open-air drug markets.

In a campaign speech that lasted all of seven minutes, Cappleman spoke of how the garden beckoned to him and life partner, Richard Thale, when searching for a new home on the North Side 12 years ago.

“I remember very clearly … it’s was a hot summer day,” Cappleman said, “there were a number of children playing in the area. We sensed immediately this felt like home.”

Cappleman hammered on the themes from his 2007 campaign, citing the current ward leadership’s lack of communication and accountability.

“The unresolved questions that we have about this garden are really no different than the unresolved questions we have about development in this ward and the unresolved concerns we have about public safety,” Cappleman said. “Like this garden, people want to know who will be there for them in their time of need. We deserve better.”

While Cappleman has never held public office, he touted his achievements as a community activist, working with Attorney General Lisa Madigan after discovering that a law forbidding registered child sex offenders from living within 500 feet of schools, playgrounds and childcare centers wasn’t being enforced in the 46^th Ward.

He also spoke of the many task forces he has served on addressing public safety issues for State Sen. Heather Steans (7^th District) and State Rep. Greg Harris (13^th District). Steans sent her chief of staff and former campaign manager to assist with Cappleman’s campaign kickoff on Saturday.

Taking aim at the other declared challengers in the 46^th Ward aldermanic race, Cappleman said he was the only candidate who was prepared to get down to work, “on day one.”

“While others in the race are on a steep learning curve and are just now beginning to talk to people, “ Cappleman said, “for the past ten years I have been working to make this ward a better place for everyone, and I did this long before I ever thought of running for public office.”

Cappleman claimed to have a detailed plan for improving the ward, from addressing public safety issues and creating an open door policy for the alderman’s office, including evening and weekend ward service hours, to requiring broader input on development.

“Imagine that,” he said to laughter. “I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work.”

Cappleman faces three other challengers, including Ward Streets and Sanitation Superintendent Don Nowotny, Chicago police officer Michael Carroll, and Gerald Farinas, a Lakeview social worker and former political consultant to the 2004 Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes.

Residents plant flowers in the Sunnyside Mall community gardens at James Cappleman's campaign kickoff for 46th Ward alderman.

Last week, Buena Park attorney Molly Phelan, who engineered Fix Wilson Yard’s lawsuit against the City of Chicago and developer Peter Holsten for alleged breaches of the state’s TIF laws in the creation of the Wilson Yard TIF District, filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections for the formation of a political campaign committee, Friends of Molly Phelan.  Phelan has also been said to be considering a run for 46^th Ward alderman.

Along with Nowotny and Farinas, Cappleman is one of three openly gay candidates running for 46^th Ward alderman.

Residents attending Cappleman’s campaign kickoff, and,  later, an evening fundraiser, saw a more battle-hardened candidate than the novice from four years ago, after enduring whispers that the votes he garnered in 2007 were merely votes against Shiller. He’s hired professional campaign manager Lauren Peters, who ran Jim Madigan’s tough, aggressive race against Steans in the Democratic primary for the Illinois 7^th Senate District.

Cappleman was the sole aldermanic challenger in 2007, handpicked by a committee of community and business leaders that wanted to avoid a runoff against Shiller, who has served on the City Council since 1987.

Both adored and reviled throughout the ward, Shiller has taken knocks from some residents who have seemingly declared war on the alderman for her affordable housing policies and being soft on crime. Shiller has yet to announce if she will seek re-election.

Until then, Cappleman is zeroing on Shiller’s support base, which he claims is shrinking. He also says that he learned a lot from his 2007 run.

“I learned not to take for granted that I would get huge support from the GLBT community that they would vote in droves for a gay candidate,” he said. “Money is always a factor. It certainly helps but it’s not one of the primary variables that’s going to get someone elected. I was outspent four to one and I still almost won. Time was a variable. I started in September and that was way too late.”

Editor

Scale drawing of the proposed Montrose/Clarendon mega center on the former Columbus Maryville property looking west from Clarendon Park. Janis Tiffin, an architect and Clarendon Park-resident, says the drawing is accurate. (Image courtesy of Uptown Coalition For Responsible Development.)

Janis Tiffin, who lives across the street from a proposed planned development on the site of the former Columbus-Maryville property at Montrose and Clarendon, vaguely recalls receiving a legal notice in the mail in January.

“My husband mentioned it,” Tiffin said. “I think we threw it away.

So last month when she learned there was massive, $350 million planned development possibly going up at 810 W. Montrose across the street from her condominium, Tiffin jumped in her car and drove downtown to City Hall.

Tiffin, a licensed architect, says she was shocked after viewing the site plans for the proposed development of 1,050 residential units, a hotel, a supermarket and health club, plus parking for 1,100 cars.

“This is crazy,” Tiffin said. “It is humongously out of scale with the buildings around it.”

Like many Uptown residents, she learned a valuable lesson: when something resembling a legal notice arrives in the mail announcing a zoning change, a planned development or the creation of a new TIF district, you better read it.

“Nobody in my building or condominium association received any notification of any meetings,” Tiffin said. “There were two residents [who knew about it] but they didn’t tell anyone else.”

Progress on the development proposed by Sedgwick Properties and Development Corporation continues at breakneck speed through the channels at City Hall. The project has already received a unanimous stamp of approval from the Community Development Commission for the redevelopment plan and the creation of a new TIF district. The project still has to go before the City Council’s zoning committee and the Chicago Plan Commission.

Although Sedgwick’s Lakeview Station project has been reported on in the media, Tiffin says she doesn’t follow the local scuttlebutt on blogs or neighborhood news sites.

“I guess I should read something besides Huffington Post,” she said.

Tiffin and her husband, David Hemmings, have since formed a grass roots group called the Uptown Coalition for Responsible Development. She knows that her group that has already compiled an e-mal list of 200 neighbors is playing a game of beat-the-clock.

As an architect, Tiffin says she sees things in the plans that may be undecipherable to the everyday person. For example, the height of the largest building in the plan is 490 feet, twice as tall as the residential building at 4343 N. Clarendon.

She’s also concerned about the alley behind Agatite which the developer has proposed widening to accommodate the delivery trucks servicing the development’s new supermarket, and cars pulling in and out on to Montrose, adding to the area’s already heavy traffic load.

Residents view plans for the Sedgwick development on the former Columbus-Maryville property at a meeting hosted by the Uptown Coalition for Responsible Development.

Tiffin and her husband attended both open houses hosted by the developer at Clarendon Park on May 20 and May 27, after the CDC unanimously approved the redevelopment plan and carving out a hunk of the existing Wilson Yard TIF District to create a new TIF district exclusively for the Columbus-Maryville property.

“Sedgwick hasn’t been showing what will actually be built,” Tiffin said. “I look at one of their drawings of the main site. The base of the big building is shown to be three-stories high with all the shoppers … the base is actually eight stories high. They made [the drawing] in scale with the neighborhood. It’s deceiving and designed to sell the building to the community.”

She said she tried talking to the architect about the elevation and setbacks of the building at the open house, which according to the plans submitted to the city, goes all the way to the sidewalk.

“The architect told me that he didn’t have time to talk to me individually,” Tiffin said.

The citizens coalition held its first meeting at the 4343 N. Clarendon building on May 27, the same evening as Sedgwick’s second open house. The meeting was well attended by more than 60 residents. Many of them also claimed they were unaware of the development until they saw fliers for the open houses plastered on the wall next to their buildings’ elevators.

Sedgwick sent a representative – “our most junior guy” Sedgwick’s director of business development, Jay Feeley, said – to “take notes.”

“We who have been down this road before feel your pain,” said Katharine Boyda, president of the Uptown Neighborhood Council that has long taken an opposition position against Uptown’s Wilson Yard development at Broadway and Montrose, claiming that the community was shut out of the planning process.

“On February 22, 2001, we will be electing a new alderman,” Boyda said of Ald. Helen Shiller (46^th) who has been in office since 1987, “an alderman that won’t dismiss people in this community but works to build relations and understands what makes a neighborhood a vibrant place to live.”

On the coalition’s wish list for the development is to reduce the number of residential units and trim off some of the height of the buildings. Tiffin would also like to see the buildings pushed back from the sidewalk off Montrose, to allow room for a sidewalk café “that brings a little street life.”

Residents attending a meeting of the Uptown Coalition for Responsible Development listen to Janis Tiffin's take on the Sedgwich plans to redevelop the Columbus-Maryvile property. Tiffin, a licensed architect, says that the development is too big for the Clarendon Park area.

The developer claims that TIF financing is needed to make Lakeview Station a reality. In return for public tax money, Sedgwick has pledged it will take out a loan of $6 million before any TIF money is generated to fix the ailing Clarendon Park.

Feeley calls residents’ efforts to lobby city officials to order Sedgwick to scale back its plans “unfortunate.” He says that of the 50 surveys completed by residents who attended both open houses, neighborhood opinion was running “2 to 1” in favor of the project.  (Conversely, more than 200 residents entered a raffle to win a $100 gift certificate from the Magnolia Café at the open houses.)

At Shiller’s request, Sedgwick has met individually in small groups with some 20 block clubs and condominium associations most affected by the project since Sedgwick first unveiled its plans in February 2009.  There have been meetings with the alderman and other “community leaders,” including representatives from Clarendon Park Neighbors and Organization of the NorthEast.

Feeley says he talked to 70 residents at the open houses answering very specific questions, as well as fielding e-mail inquiries.  He promotes the benefits of fixing Clarendon Park claiming new residents moving into the complex will organically resolve some of the park’s prevailing safety issues, including a high gang presence.  

“The people who support the project aren’t the ones raising their hands and going rah-rah,” Feeley said.  “Our ears haven’t gone silent. We are still working on things helpful to the process. This is something in our perspective that has had a lot of community input.”

The sale of the property, currently owned by the Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Heart of Jesus., still hasn’t been finalized. Feeley says that a few more pieces, including the establishment of the Montrose-Clarendon TIF District and approval as a planned development still need to go before the City Council for a full vote. He also admits that financing the development will be a challenge.

Sedgwick hopes to begin demolition and the first phase of construction – the supermarket, health club and parking garage – before the end of this year.

Meanwhile, the coalition is urging residents to write letters to the Chicago Plan Commission. Tiffin delivered 50 letters to Alderman Shiller’s office this week. The group is also circulating an online petition. At last count, the petition had garnered 216 signatures.

The neighborhood group has received offers of help from the Uptown Neighborhood Council to use its e-mail list, but Tiffin says she wants to keep the coalition “local and grass roots.”

Notices have yet to be mailed out to residents residing within 250 feet of the project informing them of the Chicago Plan Commission and Zoning Committee meetings, their only chance to voice reservations and opposition to the proposed development. The next Plan Commission meeting is scheduled June 17, but nothing yet appears on the agenda posted on the Chicago City Clerk’s website. City ordinances require 28 days of notification of public hearins.

“Why can’t we help the park without putting in a maxed-out development,” Tiffin said. “Why can’t this be a responsible development that will make money and help the park but won’t destroy the character of our neighborhood and use for residents. It’s still going to make money. Maybe it will make more?”

For more information about the Uptown Coalition for Responsible Development, click here.

 Community and business groups are poised to launch weekly summer events promoting safety and fun on neighborhood streets, many of which start this week.

“Neighborhood Nights”

"Neighborhood Nights," hosted TheNeighborhoodFirst.org, returns to Thorndale this Monday, June 7, continuing every Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. through August 30 at Broadway and Thorndale; and on Wednesdays in Uptown at Winthrop and Winona starting June 9 and continuing through August 25.

Tonight, Monday, June 7, marks the return of “Neighborhood Nights” at Thorndale and Broadway in Edgewater. An initiative started by the Edgewater Community Council last summer, “Neighborhood Nights” is a weekly community-building event takes place right outside on the sidewalk every Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. through August 30.

Featuring board games, music, prizes and food, “Neighborhood Nights” is a non-confrontational, positive loitering event designed to bring neighbors together, rather than glaring at each other on opposite sides of the street.

Last summer, hundreds of residents attended the weekly gathering on the 1100 block of West Thorndale, a troubled block that traditionally sees a rise in gang and criminal activity when the weather warms up.

“Neighborhood Nights” has been adopted by TheNeighborhoodFirst.org, which will coordinate and host the weekly summer event.

This year, “Neighborhood Nights” is being expanded on the 48^th Ward side of Uptown at Winthrop and Winona starting this Wednesday, June 9. Uptown’s “Neighborhood Nights” will run from 6 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday through August 25.

To volunteer or donate prizes and refreshments, contact Dan Kleinman at dan@theneighborhoodfirst.org.  Better yet, bring your lawn chair, kids and dogs and come out and meet your neighbors.

Harry O’s Furry Friends Summerfest

Rosie can hardly wait for Rep. Harry Osterman's Furry Friends Summerfest, starting this Wednesday, June 9, and continuing every Wednesday from from 5:30 to 8 p.m. through August 25 at Broadway and Thorndale in Edgewater. (PHOTO/TOM MANNIS)

Osterman’s “Furry Friends Summerfest” takes place at the corner of Broadway and Thorndale Avenue, near Broadway Armory Park located at 5917 N. Broadway in Edgewater.

 “Furry Friends Summerfest” offers pet owners and their pets a chance to mingle with their neighbors, learn about pet organizations and businesses in the Chicago area, purchase fun treats and toys for their pets, and contribute to pet-causes and organizations. Community members and leashed pets are welcome.

Also featured are pet adoptions and chances to participate in weekly contents and drawings, complimentary “doggie bags” filled with treats and other items from neighborhood businesses and organizations, and other fun activities, such as “pet-a-cures,” massages and more.

“The Furry Friends Summerfest is something the community will greatly benefit from.  We have many pet-owners and animal lovers.  This weekly event is meant to provide an opportunity for all to see the many offerings our city has for them and their pets,” said Osterman.  “This event is also part of a larger effort by fellow-elected officials and community organizations to fill Thorndale Ave. with positive out-door activities and reduce instances of crime.”

Co-sponsors include Friends of Animal Care and Control (FACC),  Bark Bark Club, and Fetch!.  Exhibitors on Wednesday’s opening night includ Chicagoland Tails Inc., Community Animal Rescue Effort, Animal Sense Canine Training & Behavior, Canine Therapy Corps., Broadway Animal Hospital, Tree House Humane Society, Sutton Studios, Safe Humane Chicago, Animal Ark Veterinary Clinic, and others.

For more information on the Furry Friends Summerfest, including information on how to have a free booth at the event(s), call Osterman’s district office at (773) 784-2002 or email Jared Desecki at jared.ostermanoffice@gmail.com.  Osterman represents the 14th district, which includes parts of Edgewater Rogers Park.

  Join other Uptown residents in loitering every Friday from 7 to 8 p.m. at the corner of Leland and Sheridan, the scene of a gang fight last summer. Rehash the latest episode of “Glee” or ponder the great mysteries of life with your neighbors.

North of Howard Safety Walk And Park Games

Join the CAPS Beat 2422 for a neighborhood safety walk and board games in the park starting at 7 pm. Friday, June 11 and continuing through August 27.

Turn off the TV, hit the snooze button on the computer and join your neighbors for a safety stroll through Rogers Park, or come play board games in Willye B. White Park with the kids. Bring a friend, a neighbor, the kids and the dog.

Willye B. White Park is located at 1610 W. Howard in Rogers Park.  To donate refreshments, prizes or for more infomration, contact Toni Duncan at toniduncan7@aol.com.

Correction: The weekly neighborhood safety walk and board games at Willye B. White Park is sponsored by CAPS Beat 2422, not the park advisory council as originally reported. Lake Effect News has made the correction and regrets the error.

Editor

Fifth-floor window where firefighters busted out the glass in a fire that occurred Sunday afternoon at Lawerence House in Uptown. Five people were sent to area hospitals with smoke inhalation.

For the second time in four months, fire broke out at the Lawrence House at 1020 W. Lawrence Ave. on Sunday afternoon that left five people injured.

Chicago Fire Department spokesman Quention Curtis said the first call of a fire at the Uptown building was received at 12:50 p.m. The blaze was contained to a fifth- floor unit in the 12-story building and was struck within 20 minutes.

Curtis said that the fire was upgraded when the first firefighters arrived on the scene.  Additional response and equipment were brought in.  Five people were taken to Weiss Memorial, St. Joseph and Illinois Masonic Hospitals in serious condition with smoke inhalation.

Curtis did not know if all the injuries were from the fifth floor, except to say that smoke spread throughout the building.

Many of the residents that were evacuated waited across the street from the building where firefighters could be seen through the windows going floor to floor in the building. Some firefighters were opening windows presumably to let out any lingering smoke.

A window on the fifth floor where the fire was contained had been busted out by firefighters.

Residents said that firefighters evacuated them through the building’s stairwell. Unlike the fire on March 9 when the building was discovered to have a malfunctioning alarm system, residents reported that the fire alarm sounded during Sunday’s fire.  

Brian, who did not want to give his last name, said that residents could not use the building’s fire escape system because it was “broken.”

“It’s falling apart on the second floor,” he said.

Another resident  told Lake Effect News that before the alarm system went off, he detected an odor of what smelled like burning electrical equipment. The cause of the fire is still being investigated, according to Curtis.

Residents of Lawrence House wait for the all-clear signal to return to the building during Sunday's fire.

Peter Ballinger, who moved into Lawrence House in March, said he was inside his apartment watching TV when he heard the fire alarm on Sunday afternoon.

“At first I didn’t know it was the fire alarm until I poked my head out the door and smelled smoke,” Ballinger said. “I grabbed my important documents and money and left.”

One of the building’s owners, Sam Menetti, could be seen entering the building’s lobby as firefighters packed up their equipment.

According to inspection reports obtained from the Chicago Department of Buildings in March, Lawrence House had 46 open code violations, including violations for failure to submit a life safety plan to the Buildings Department and Chicago Fire Department and a broken fire escape.

Other violations noted in the inspection reports included failure to repair and replace smoke detectors.

Like many residents in the March 9 fire, Ballinger told Lake Effect News  he was unaware that there was a fire in the building because the alarm system did not go off.  When he heard fire trucks arrive outside the building, he thought the fire was acorss the street.

“Nobody in the building said anything about it,” Ballinger said. “I moved in March 1 and totally regret it. This place is a major crack house with a lot of drug dealers, prostitution and panhandling.”

Starting at 7 p.m. Monday, June 7, Organization of the NorthEast will be hosting its annual convention at St. Augustine College, 1345 W. Argyle. One of the agenda topics will be Lawrence House.

Cory Muldoon, a community organizer for ONE, said more than 1,000 local residents are expected to attend. After the meeting, the community organization will be staging a vigil outside of Lawrence House after the convention beginning at approximately 8 p.m.

ONE, which has been working with residents to resolve safety and building concerns at Lawrence House, staged a vigil outside one of Hodo and Sam Menetti’s restaurants in Wicker Park last week.

Ballinger said he doesn’t feel safe or secure inside the building, where he pays $600 a month in rent on a year’s lease.

“It’s total bullshit. It’s not what I was promised,” Ballinger said. “There aren’t too many old people left and they’re bringing in a lot of crack people. I’m going to break my lease. Let them come sue me.”

Related Lawrence House stories:

“BREAKING: LAWRENCE HOUSE FIRE 3.p.m TUESDAY (MARCH 9)

“Fire Alarm System Did Not Go Off During Uptown Fire”

“Cause of Lawrence House Fire ‘Suspicious’”

Lawrence House fire, Uptown, Sunday, June 6

By 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, more than 200 persons had filed through Truman to fill out applications for the 250 to 300 hourly positions available at the Wilson Yard Target which is scheduled to open on July 25. More than 2,000 local residents have already applied online.

The Target open application day at Truman College continues until 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 25. Human resources team members told Lake Effect News that they will be reviewing the applications completed today and setting up interviews for Friday and Saturday. Those interested in filling out a job application today should bring a valid picture ID.