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| Ward09.com |
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| www.chicagoelections.com |
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| Shedd School on Christmas Day 2017 |
The Rescue Missionary Christian School then presented their information to the district and 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale, along with another bidder (“We never got a name. All we knew was that it was a [housing] developer,” Tucker said). Both bids were rejected. “The highest bidder did not get community approval so my thought was, ‘Shouldn’t it go to the second highest bidder since you only had two?’ But no, he rejected both bids and put it back up for sale. At least that’s the story we got,” said Tucker.Too bad they didn't send a photographer to this property. When the weather warms up and the leaves on trees grow ago there are vines growing on what used to the the kindergarten class room. That's an eyesore enough although yes, the building itself may well still remain in good condition. Here's hoping a satisfactory plan will be created for the former Shedd School.
In fact, because Shedd was not officially considered one of the schools closed in 2013, there was no district requirement for community input or public meetings at the time (now, that requirement has been lifted for many schools closed in 2013 as well).
According to Beale, the bid by the Rescue Missionary Christian School was denied because he felt they did not have “the resources to accomplish what the community is looking to have done,” he said. “If the building needs redoing, they really don’t have the capital to rehab the building, keep up with the maintenance of the building, keep up with the landscaping, all those types of things.”
According to a Freedom of Information Act request, Shedd Elementary accumulated approximately $5,430 in gas and electricity costs from July 2015 to June 2016, which has residents wondering why taxpayers are still paying to keep the lights on in a closed building.
Beale explained that some buildings are secured by alarm systems. “You don’t want a school just sitting there open. You might want to make sure the heat stays at a certain temperature so the pipes don’t freeze. There’s a lot of things going on, just because a building is vacant doesn’t mean that there’s no activity in the building. There’s still a light amount of maintenance being done,” he said.
The building is still in good condition and has yet to become an eyesore in the neighborhood. But residents still want to see the building repurposed.
Here's the latest e-mail update from Ald. Anthony Beale, there's lots of information here. If you have an e-mail address feel free to visit his site @ www.ward09.com to sign up for his e-mails. |
| Via The Chicago Neighborhoods |
Since 2015, Pullman National Monument has moved sluggishly toward these goals. The state-owned grounds are in the midst of an extensive cleanup from decades of industrial waste. The National Park Service’s visitors center, planned for the clock tower building, has been pushed back at least a year. Plans mapping out the monument’s long-term future were supposed to be completed within three years but are only now beginning. State and federal money has been minimal, and progress on some projects has been slowed because of several federal government shutdowns and an unprecedented two-year state budget standoff.Here's something from Tribune Graphics showing a map of the Pullman area under the national parks.
The one project that could move forward, an apartment building for artists, is on hold after federal officials told the developers to seek additional input from the public.
“My wife and I have been here for 50 years, and we’ve seen different cycles and levels of interest from people working in Pullman,” said resident Mike Shymanski. Progress “takes time and takes patience, but once the restoration is done it’ll be around a long time.”
Pullman was expected to draw 300,000 visitors per year by 2025, however, with its current annual attendance at only 50,000, those estimates seem ambitious.
Now, the park is contending with a president who is less supportive of conservation. The Trump administration recently shrunk two Utah national monuments, bringing about at least two legal challenges and legislation to counter the move.
Low attendance, lack of funding and an unsupportive president impede Pullman monument progress https://t.co/NA3Pbnn0EP via @_TonyBriscoe pic.twitter.com/Ta7btw8yLf— Tribune Graphics (@ChiTribGraphics) February 19, 2018
The first floor of the state-owned Hotel Florence could open even sooner, possibly over the summer after contractors finish building an accessibility ramp and restoring and furnishing the elaborate interior.What are the plans for the Hotel Florence? I'm very keen on finding out!
The park service also plans to work outside the monument to generate buzz through a grant from the McCormick Foundation to develop curriculum in area classrooms on nationally significant themes: transformation of passenger rail travel, urban planning, Pullman’s role in the American labor movement and the porters’ civil rights movement.
The numbers are in and Black Panther is a monster hit. More than that, it has already earned a place in the box office history books in just its first three-to-four days of release. The movie earned a $201.8 million Fri-Sun weekend and will earn an estimated $235m over the Fri-Mon holiday. So, without further ado, I wanted to take a moment to note the copious big ways that the Ryan Coogler-directed/Chadwick Boseman-starring superhero spectacular has already planted its flag in the sand.Just consider this is the biggest opening weekend of a movie with a mostly Black cast and by a Black director. And of course it's setting the bar for comic book movies in general also.
