By Ronald Roenigk
Publisher
After a year of loose organizing the Lincoln Park Improvement Task Force (LPITF) has established its first board of directors and slate of officers—all pulled together by the will of one man—and it is now assuming a broader scope. So the first order of business at its meeting last Wednesday was to change its name and expand its scope to include the Lakeview community.
After the initial board and officers were voted in, the LPITF changed its name to that of the Lincoln Park/Lakeview Improvement Task Force (LP/LITF) and pledged to focus on issues relating to both areas. "There is no wall down Diversey separating the communities and what happens north of it affects Lincoln Park as well so we should include that area in our boundaries," said Jim Bidwell, the man behind the "will" and its newly elected president.
The group first gathered in late 2001 when Bidwell and several other Lincoln Park residents felt left out of the debate over a proposed new $500 million luxury high rise project sprouting from the site of the shuttered Columbus Hospital, 2520 N. Lakeview Ave. "The people negotiating on behalf of the community said they spoke for my building [2626 N. Lakeview] but they never talked to anyone," said Bidwell of the two-year battle over the fate of the prized piece of real estate.
"When we stepped forward to be a part of the planning process we were refused access at meetings and denied our rights to participate in the debate," said the retired Merchandise Mart manager. "This was a significant project in our community and the negotiations were being demagogued by a small faction of two community groups who somehow convinced the city to let them determine the zoning and ultimate fate of this project. I was stunned."
Bidwell is referring the acrimonious negotiations which took place over two years between the city, Ald. Vi Daley (43rd), the developer American Invsco, and two neighborhood associations [Park West Association (PWA) and the Diversey Harbor Lakeview Association (DHLA)] which at the time said they were speaking for the community at large.
DHLA is a consortium of condominium and co-operative associations in the area roughly bounded by Fullerton Ave., Diversey Pkwy., Lakeview Ave. and Clark St. The Park West Association is a community association that serves the area east of Halsted St. from Diversey Pkwy. to Fullerton Ave.
Indeed in 2001 and 2002 Invsco representatives had attempted to arrange meetings with individual condo boards and PWA and DHLA had rebuffed those efforts. At the time both groups said they represented the interests of the boards of the various buildings in this controversy. Gene Fisher, DHLA's executive director at the time, told Inside, "We [did] not know what that information [was]. Invsco's original thrust was to try to arrange the meetings with individual condo associations. That was a complete flop as a divide and conquer ploy." Bidwell, among others, disagreed and because of this slight decided to form his own community group, one he feels will promote the interests of all the segments of the community.
After the board and officers were named at the gathering at Zucco's Tavern & Grill, 543 W. Diversey Pkwy., they heard from Ald. Daley who spoke about the upcoming Clark St. streetscape project and the re-paving of Diversey Pkwy. Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) also attended and spoke on other community issues.
Nick Golitas, CEO of American Invsco, also gave a brief presentation on his project at 2520 N. Lakeview, which he said is already half sold before they've even gotten underway. With only 200 units for sale on the rare three-acre spot, the project stands ready to become the premier luxury address in Lincoln Park.
Jim Stellas, chairman of JP Stellas Properties, also gave a presentation about a mixed use project he is building on Diversey Ave. Financier Albert Hanna gave a talk on the evils of downzoning, Lincoln Park's declining population base, and the lack of diversity in Lincoln Park as a result of local zoning policy.
Hanna pointed out that since 1950 Lincoln Park's population has declined by 38,000 people; that it has lost over 8,200 jobs since 1973; and that since 1971 there have been 193 downzonings. "Park West alone registered 35 downzonings since 1971 and [PWA boundaries are] made up of only 24 city blocks," said Hanna. "Lincoln Park's non-white population is down over 50 percent since 1970—down to only 11 percent— in a city with 58 percent non-white population."
Hanna suggested that Lincoln Park and parts of Lakeview are for the white, rich and powerful only and that the neighborhood's character has been destroyed by racial cleansing caused by supply-demand economics and gentrification. |
