UIC plans land swap with Newman  

University of Illinois at Chicago officials might take over the current site of Newman Center in exchange for providing a new location where the Catholic student organization could build a dormitory.

            Warren Chapman, vice chancellor of external affairs at UIC, said the property swap “is in the exploratory stage. There is no formal proposal on the table.”

“It is all preliminary now,” said the Rev. Patrick Marshall, pastor at Newman Center.

Chapman and other UIC officials discussed plans at an Oct. 11 meeting with community residents. Fr. Marshall spoke in an interview with the Gazette.

            Chapman ruled out any possibility the university might build a dorm on the site, which Newman Center officials want to give up in favor of a location that would allow a dorm.

Objections from neighborhood residents caused Ald. Daniel Solis (25th) to lead the Chicago City Council in down-zoning the site.

“It is not feasible for us to put a dorm there,” Chapman said. “We have no plans to build a 20-story dorm.”

“I hope the neighbors see it in response to their concerns,” Fr. Marshall said.

            The university likely would use the building for offices and meeting space if it determines the building is structurally sound, Chapman said, noting, “We never have enough office space.”

            As for where Newman Center might go, Chapman said the university was waiting to hear how much space the center needs. He hinted UIC would offer space on Roosevelt Road, Harrison Street, or Taylor Street—major thoroughfares UIC prefers to use for dorms.

            Chapman added precedent exists for the land deal, as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign completed a swap with the Newman Center near its campus a number of years ago.

            Adam Walker, president of the Vernon Park Townhome Association, said to Chapman and the other university officials, “We continue to be very passionate about keeping the area a neighborhood.”

            “If anything is going to happen, it has to work for everyone,” Chapman said. He promised the community would be kept informed.

            --Susan S. Stevens

 

Good news for Little League park

A potential land swap is being suggested by Chicago Planning Commissioner Arnold Randall to transfer an undisclosed number of small City-owned properties to the Illinois Medical District (IMD) in exhange for Livingston Park, home of the Near West Little League.

Attorney Kenneth Scheiwe for the IMD sent letters to the Chicago Park District and organizers of the Near West Little League (NWLL) recently demanding that all seating, lighting, monuments, statues, and other improvements to the field be removed from the property immediately.

            Livingston Park at Polk and Leavitt Streets, home of the NWLL, has been the center of a contentious dispute between the IMD and the league. The IMD said the 1.23 acre plot meets lighting and placement requirements for a new biotech facility and greenhouse and that the league knew all along it could use the park only temporarily.

            The NWLL, which has used the field for 13 years, has invested more than $200,000 in improvements and countless volunteer hours to outfit the field with sprinklers, lighting, seats, and a memorial to several former coaches who were killed in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Founder and President Bob Musikowski and other league officials contend the IMD has numerous other site options for the biotech project and should leave Livingston Park alone.

            The Park District, which maintains the field for the NWLL, met with the IMD and representatives of the league on Oct. 5. Marta Juaniza, a Park District spokesperson, reported the NWLL was dissatisfied with alternate sites suggested by the IMD, so the Park District will back the league in its efforts to stay in Livingston Park. “We have not moved anything off of the property,” she said.

            The land swap would have to be approved by the City Council and the IMD board, but in a July resolution sponsored by local Aldermen, the Chicago City Council backed preserving the park, which serves more than 600 children participating on 42 teams. Mayor Richard M. Daley also has expressed support for the site to remain a park.

--Jean Lachowicz

 

UDRosyPlace Update for Nov.

 

Hot time at Roosevelt Place apts. 

Residents of Roosevelt Place, an apartment building for seniors open for less than a year at 1401 W. Roosevelt Rd., felt a little like runners in the Chicago Marathon when temperatures inside the building soared to 90 degrees Oct. 7. As heat felled marathoners outside, residents within found no relief despite wide-open windows and fans.

            “My thermometer said 88,” said resident Velma Wallace. “I thought it was something wrong with the air conditioner.”

            Instead, the air conditioning had been turned off for the season.

            “I am very sorry the residents were so uncomfortable,” said Eileen King, building manager. With the building being new, the heating and air conditioning systems had not been fine-tuned so they could be switched on and off quickly, she said.

            King noted residents who became too warm were welcome to sit in the lobby, which was on a different air conditioning system and more comfortable than the apartments.

            A week later, when temperatures were in the 40s and 50s, the heat was not on but the building was “warm enough,” Wallace said. “I can always put on a sweater.” 

--Susan S. Stevens

 

Rush breaks ground on orthopedic building

 

Rush University Medical Center hosted a ceremony July 11 to celebrate the groundbreaking for a new orthopedic ambulatory care building.

            The new 222,000 square foot orthopedic ambulatory care building will be located on the Rush campus immediately west of Ashland Avenue between Harrison and Flournoy Streets. Outpatient offices and related facilities of the Department of Orthopedics will occupy four floors of the five-story building.

            “This new facility will consolidate patient services into one convenient location and provide space for growth to meet the increasing demand for orthopedic patient care services,” said Gunnar Andersson, MD, chairman of Rush’s orthopedics department. Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, a private group medical practice staffed by Rush faculty, will close its River City location at 800 S. Wells St. and bring its outpatient services to the Rush campus.

The new building also will house physical and occupational therapists; an MRI and CT imaging center; the Gait Laboratory; orthotics and prosthetics services; offices for orthopedic surgeons and staff; and a conference and learning center. The first floor will include retail space.