The City of Chicago has announced the first seven winners of the first round of the Chicago Works Community Challenge across the city. In a press event at Rainbow Beach Park led by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the winners of a combined $1.5 million grant were declared part of the larger $10 million initiative which began in 2021 and garnered roughly 500 submissions from locals across the seven target regions.
The seven winners of the We Rise Together grant have been announced across the south and west sides in predominantly Black and Latino communities. The $6.7 million grant is the result of a program from the Chicago Community Trust that began in 2020 as the pandemic disproportionately affected communities of color and is aimed at assisting the areas recover. Learning from the recession, the winners range from small businesses to new construction representing the resilience of all Chicago’s neighborhoods.
A demolition permit was issued earlier this week for a two-story masonry building located at 5242 W Chicago Avenue in the Austin neighborhood. The Westside Health Authority has been listed as the permit owner. At the time of this writing, no future plans appear to have been submitted to upgrade any of the zoning designations for this property.
Stabilization work has been ordered on the Laramie State Bank Building located at 5200 W Chicago Avenue in Austin. As a part of one of the Invest South/West sites, the bank will see a new life as an incubator, cafe, and blues music museum as work progresses over the coming years. Sitting on the northwest corner of the intersection with N Laramie Avenue, the bank has been vacant for nearly a decade and is in dire need of work to assure its long-term feasibility.
The Commission on Chicago Landmarks has decided to move forward with pursuing landmark status for the Seth Warner house located at 631 N Central Avenue in Austin. The house, just north of the corner with W Ohio Street, was recently nominated by Preservation Chicago along with a handful of other sites last month and is moving ahead with pursuing the status. The commission hopes that its proximity to the Invest South/West projects in Austin will help gather momentum in the restoration and preservation of the home.
