City Council Approves Community Center In Auburn Gresham

The Chicago City Council has approved the rezoning for a new community center at 1219 W 87th Street in Auburn Gresham. Developed on a partially empty lot by the Progressive Beluah Pentecostal Church, the project dubbed The Progressive Manor Community Center will cater to local youth with aftercare programs and spotting facilities. The center is designed by Blue Line Architecture as an addition to an existing one-story building.

Rendering of gym space over basketball court of Progressive Manor by Blue Line Architects

The church, which currently sponsors multiple programs around the community, will now be able to host and majorly expand their offerings inside of the 32,621-square-foot space. Under its tallest height of 46 feet will be a large basketball court with bleacher seating, users will also have access to locker rooms and a large gym on the second level overlooking the court. Adjacent to the court will be an L-shaped auditorium seating 200 to 250 people that could be subdivided and rented out for events at a fair price.

Rendering of the new auditorium space by Blue Line Architecture

The auditorium will allow for a partnership with the Hyde Park Youth Symphony Orchestra that would work with a new in-house brass band. With a focus on STEM, the goal is to create a safe space for restorative outreach with rooms for video playback and strategizing, a large game room, a library, computer lab, and more. The metal panel and precast concrete clad structure will tie into a portion of the existing building on site and salvage 10 vehicle parking spaces for staff and visitors.

Rendering of the new community center at 1219 W 87th Street by Blue Line Architecture

With a price tag of $5 million, the church has been crowdsourcing to kick off the project and recently completed a long fundraising campaign that allowed them to buy the lot and progress in design and permits. When ready to move forward, Praxis Construction Inc will proceed as the general contractor, though a formal groundbreaking hasn’t been announced, some site prep work has occurred.

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