Praising politicians at the Country and City levels

Criticizing politicians is as much a Chicago sport as rooting for the Cubs, White Sox, or Bears. The opportunity to praise them seems to come around as often as a championship for those teams, but this month provides that opportunity.

            After years of pleas from architectural preservationists and other County Board members to save old Cook County Hospital from the wrecking ball, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger appears to have come around to their opinion. Stroger is looking into making parts of the old, empty building active again, and even into restoring the building to comply with modern environmentally sustainable and energy efficient standards.

            It is the right thing to do for several reasons. Old Cook County hospital should be saved not only because it is an architectural gem, but because the County and Stroger Hospital need more space for offices and programs. Why tear down an architecturally significant, strong, usable building, when it can be refurbished? Why build new when an existing building, already owned by the County, can be repurposed much more quickly?

            President Stroger appears to have asked himself these questions and come to the right decision. We commend him for it.  

            Although we disagree strongly with Aldermen Robert Fioretti and Daniel Solis introducing an ordinance in City Council that could potentially shut down the Roosevelt Square development, we can offer some praise here, too. The ordinance as of this writing still is in committee and may never see the light of day.

            Fioretti has said flat-out that he does not want a construction shut-down at Roosevelt Square. We agree wholeheartedly and commend him for voicing this opinion. Disagreements over building materials between the University Village Association and Related Midwest, Roosevelt Square’s developer, appear to have been largely ironed out, and we hope the project will continue to move ahead.

            So does Fioretti, who said that rather than a construction slow-down, he wants to see a construction speed-up so Roosevelt Square may be completed sooner. Although the logistics of a speedup would be up to Related Midwest, Fioretti's comment shows both that he wants the Roosevelt Square project in the 2nd Ward and wants it completed. We both agree with and commend him yet again.

            Of concern to some Roosevelt Square proponents is a recent decision by the City to remove 1.8 acres of land from the development plan so a private residential development could be built there. We do not see this as the City chipping away at Roosevelt Square, but rather the City—for once—reaffirming the right of private ownership over eminent domain. Those 1.8 acres were privately owned and never had been acquired by the City. The owner therefore had the right to dispose of the property as he saw fit, and he saw fit to sell it to a private developer. We agree with the City's decision, and we commend City officials for defending private property.

            Lately, our local officials are doing pretty well. May the Cubs, White Sox, and Bears follow their lead.

 

Passing of Florence Scala closes chapter in our history

The passing of long-time activist and civic leader Florence Scala on Aug. 27 closes another chapter in the colorful history of the Near West Side community.

Florence stood for all that was good about the neighborhood’s past, and she spent a lifetime ensuring the vitality of its present and future. Florence was courageous, passionate, respectful, and elegant. She was both formally educated and street-smart. She learned the ways of the world on the hard-scrabble streets of the Near West Side at a time when vendors sold their wares on carts pulled by horses and the clickety-clack of their hooves was a soothing sound to the large number of immigrants who called the area around Taylor and Halsted Streets home. Florence didn’t have patience for people who spoke in political jargon, or for the individual or organization that went back on its word to the community.

She is most well known, of course, for her fight to stop the construction of the Chicago Circle Campus. Florence wasn’t against higher education, or against the University of Illinois providing an avenue for students to better themselves. Rather, she was for the thousands of Italians, Greeks, and Hispanics who found a way of life on the Near West Side. They poured what little they had into modest homes, and they became part of the fabric of life of the community, becoming involved in the local churches and schools. Florence felt they should not lose their homes, their community, and their way of life.

The other important thing to remember about Florence’s fight against Circle Campus was that she was furious over the process by which the campus came to be: the lack of open-door meetings and the politicians who lacked the gumption to standup for their own people. So Florence stood up—taller and more courageous than anyone.

Florence was a friend to many; years after UIC was built and showed that it could make a lasting contribution to the neighborhood, Florence turned her passion to other interests: affordable housing for the residents of ABLA and an end to “decisions made in a vacuum” that adversely affected the lives of local residents and business owners.

For those of you who have read the Gazette’s editorial page these past 25 years, you will no doubt recall our own criticisms of “decisions made in a vacuum.” Florence was a strong supporter of the Gazette. She was a mentor to its editor and publisher. And, she was a guiding light in our quest for fairness and freedom.

We thank you, Florence, on behalf of the entire neighborhood for all that you did for so many. On a personal note, this editor also thanks you for your wisdom and your words of encouragement over the years. We will never forget you. God bless you, Florence. May you find peace and comfort in Heaven. We can envision how many friends and neighbors welcomed you home.