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Friday, November 30, 2018

Chicago History Today: 103rd/Eggleston then & now #fbf

Just think how often I pass through this general area and it's fascinating how this area has changed over the years. 103rd Street and Eggleston back in 1905 about 113 years ago! This is courtesy of a photo provided by local historian J.R. Schmidt.
Here's how Schmidt described this scene from the early 20th century:
We are on 103rd Street at the railroad crossing, midway between Halsted and State. In 1905 this was the site of the Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad’s Fernwood station, so various businesses had been established in the immediate vicinity. Yet traffic along the street was so light that people commonly walked down the middle.
Of course as you see there are a lot of changes to this stretch. You can go over to his post from 2015 to see how this area looks today. Just think this will be the next stop from 95th once the CTA Red Line is extended.

Oh wow, another shot of a streetcar! 

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Petition filing is now over #Ward09 #ChgoMayor2019



If you want to see a list of all mayoral candidates and all aldermanic candidates a spreadsheet from The Daily Line. I would encourage you to get a subscription to The Daily Line formerly known as Aldertrack.

We start here with the 21 candidates running for mayor in addition to city clerk and treasurer


And here are the candidates for alderman in all 50 wards. And for the two wards we want to cover in 2019, here's a list of candidate for both wards 6 & 9.


Ward 9

Of course since we're in Chicago, the candidates for alderman and mayor will begin to thin out as campaigns go through petitions. Classic way of knocking a candidate off the ballot is to find something wrong with the petitions.


We have a huge list for mayor and for 9th ward alderman, a rather short list so who knows if they may thin out. As always we'll keep an eye out.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

The City of Chicago is hiring #BuildingwithBeale #Ward09

Found through Ald. Beale's FB page and you might want to read the disclaimer regarding any political based hiring. Beyond that best of luck to you job seeked.

Monday, November 26, 2018

Did you see the pedestrian bridge over 95th?

[VIDEO] Well this is old news, but for the last week if you've been driving along 95th Street across the Dan Ryan Expressway you see a bridge over the street. It's a pedestrian bridge that will connect the new south terminal with the original north terminal.

I did a quick snapshot when I noticed the bridge and finally posted it to our IG page. I think some of the structure for the bridge was staged at the old service station at 95th & State before it was eventually put up.

Thanks to the continuing work at 95th according to WGN:
Drivers along 95th Street will notice lane reconfigurations for the next 2-3 weeks as crews work to put the glass enclosures and flooring in place. For the latest details, visit transitchicago.com/alerts.
Here's our ig post



Thursday, November 15, 2018

Oldest Chicago monument! #TBT

Illinois-Indiana Boundary Marker
 As I continue to peruse the posts of Chicago History Today to find old photographs of sites on the south side, I wanted to share this with you.

Did you know that on the south side near the lakefront is a marker noting the divide between Chicago and Indiana. Here's some history from J.R. Schmidt:
In 1833, as Chicago and the Midwest were starting to grow, Congress ordered a new survey of the boundary between Illinois and Indiana. When the survey was completed, a 15-foot high limestone obelisk was put in place on the shore of Lake Michigan, straddling the state line.

Civilization gradually engulfed the boundary marker. The shoreline was extended north by landfill. Multiple railroad lines came through. Commonwealth Edison built a huge generating plant. The South Park Commissioners laid out Calumet Park.

By the 1980s the marker was isolated and neglected among the rail yards. Allen J. Benson, a ComEd executive, convinced the company to sponsor its restoration, in conjunction with the East Side Historical Society and other interested groups. In 1988 the marker was moved 190 feet north to its present location, just outside the plant gate. A new base was added at that time.
As Schmidt states this monument is very difficult to find, however, you will have to read the rest of his post to see how to find this monument if you're interested in looking for it. Perhaps you can lobby the city to put up some signs to find this monument.

Perhaps I might document the time where I tried to find this obelisk!

Monday, November 12, 2018

CBS 2: Pullman Neighborhood Booms, While Roseland Neighborhood Struggles Nextdoor #Ward09

[VIDEO] I'm sorry I missed this report from over the past summer. WBBM-TV looks at a tale of two communities with Pullman to the west being revitalized with a variety of redevelopment with retail and most of historic Pullman now a national monument.

And now you have Roseland which even Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward) would refer to blight as he stands at the commercial area on Michigan Avenue. You see him speaking between Pullman and Michigan Avenue and he sees revitalization in Roseland.

I have thought about making a comparison say between Streeterville in Downtown Chicago and say River North or North Michigan Ave from east to west. Streeterville is a very wealthy area, but then the areas near by are also wealthy and probably can't compare so easily to Pullman and Roseland.

Pullman has the history, architecture and now a national monument and some other development. Roseland with it's own history and blight is waiting for it's own revitalization. If I had my own vision Pullman could be the area of choice for many because of it's history. Then again what about Roseland?

Roseland could be neighborhood for everyone else. It's the land of opportunity and like Englewood it's sort of blank canvas. The right vision will for example see a revitalized Michigan Avenue strip no more boarded up storefronts or vacant lots. And of course a wonderful place to live just like their neighbors to the east.

BTW, if any smart aspiring politicians are reading this blog I can only imagine the "campaign ads" that come from this short video.

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Pullman Communicy Center opened on Thursday

[VIDEO] Sorry to have missed this. The new Pullman Community Center located near 103rd & Woodlawn has finally opened. We start with the above video from CBS 2 and then excerpt from this Sun-Times article
After nearly a decade of planning and a frenzied round of corporate fundraising, a $20 million, 135,000-square-foot sports, recreation and educational center opened its doors at 10355 S. Woodlawn Ave.

The massive U.S. Bank Pullman Community Center is one of the largest indoor sports facilities in Illinois and the fifth-largest in the country. It includes three basketball/tennis courts and three synthetic turf fields that can be used for baseball, football and soccer.

The facility also includes community meeting rooms and classroom space.

“We’re looking at keeping 1,100 kids a week off the streets, doing something positive and constructive. A facility that’s gonna be open probably 12 to 14 hours a day. That gives people opportunity. It gives ’em hope,” Beale said Thursday.

“If you’re struggling in school and you’re enrolled in this facility, we’re gonna provide free ACT, SAT and tutoring in whatever subject that you need.”

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Chicago History Today: 115th/Michigan then & now #tbt

This time a shot of 115th/Michigan from 1895. And here's another shot from 1934 of the same corner and the scene doesn't look much different from today. The top shot you will find from J.R. Schmidt's Chicago History Today blog which was published last year. You will also see a shot from that corner from last year also.

Hopefully it'll look much different once the red line extension is built.

RELATED: What would you like to see at 115th/Michigan

Thursday, November 1, 2018

Chicago Mag: Pullman’s Renaissance #Ward09 #BuildingwithBeale

Published on October 26th, 2018 I'm sorry that I only found out about it recently. A lot of good things is going on in that part of the city.
In the coming weeks, construction crews will begin meticulously restoring the roof and upper floor windows of the landmark Pullman Clock Tower and Administration Building, the former headquarters of the company that developed the neighborhood and forever changed rail travel in the 19th century.

Nearly lost in an arson attack in 1998, the structure is being overhauled for its next life as the visitor center for the Pullman National Monument, Chicago’s first ever site in the national park system. The roof work, funded by a $2.2 million grant from the National Park Service, is expected to take six months.

Construction on the old administrative building comes more than three years after President Obama dedicated the site as a national monument, setting into motion a restoration that Pullman residents and preservationists have long called for. According to Kathleen Schneider, the first superintendent of Pullman National Monument, there are a mix of public and private funds earmarked for the restoration, including more than $13 million from the National Park Foundation.

“We’re only three years old with a staff of three people,” Schneider says of the new national monument. “Although it may appear that not a lot is happening, we’ve been working hard with the State of Illinois and community on the 2020 opening of the visitors center.”

Schneider says the site’s educational programming will center on Pullman’s legacy as a planned neighborhood and as an integral site in the labor and civil rights movements. Specifically, the visitor center will spotlight the internal clashes that led to the Pullman Strike of 1894 and formation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.

As for community partners, Schneider highlights the Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI) group, a nonprofit developer that has helped bring investment to the greater Pullman area in recent years. While the Clock Tower’s restoration represents a symbolic rebirth of the historic district, newer facilities including a Whole Foods distribution center, an expanded greenhouse by produce supplier Gotham Greens, and soap maker Method have reinvigorated the neighborhood’s identity as an industrial hub.
Great to see the progress in nearby Pullman.

Pullman Community Center hiring event #Ward09 #BuildingwithBeale

The long awaited Pullman Community Center is hosting a hiring event with walk-in interviews. Please bring your resume.

Location: 10355 S. Woodlawn
When: November 2, 2018
Time: 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM

You may have seen this in an email blast from the office of 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale.

Refer to flyer below.