1. education
2. school

Alcott College Prep
Community Tour
Presented by the students
of Ms. Marshall’s civics
class at Alcott College Prep,
in conjuction with CGCT
Acknowledgements
Alcott College Prep Community Tour
Alcott College Prep has students from all over the city,
but once we are here we become part of this community
and have a stake in it.
“...we want to
stand up for
our community
so that we don’t
continue to get
pushed out.”
The community has struggled to keep
affordable housing in the neighborhood.
Residents have to had to fight with both
the Chicago Housing Authority, which is
trying to replace the Lathrop Homes with
market rate housing, and developers,
who have replaced important community assets with gated communities and
million-dollar homes.
Alcott College Prep offered a civics class
for those of us at the school who wanted
to make a change. It is because of this
class that we are aware of the changes
that the surrounding community has
gone through. Furthermore, we have
learned how to play a role in these
changes and how to make our voices
heard.
Instead of accepting the gentrification
of the neighborhood and the displacement of residents, community members
have become active in fighting for
jobs, housing, and stability in the area.
Activists have come together and organized different actions that led to great
achievements, like bringing in an affordable grocery store instead of a planned
housing complex that would have led to
people being forced to leave their homes.
This tour will highlight the importance
of particular community sites, as well
as show how developers have changed
the area. We are in danger of losing the
Lathrop Homes and the Boys and Girls
Club, which support students and community residents, due to the push for
market rate housing. Just as activists
have done here in the past, we want to
stand up for our community so that we
don’t continue to get pushed out.
Ravenswood
Wolcott
Damen
Hoyne
Leavitt
Belmont
Demographics
Population: 13,958
Barry
5
8
Wellington
6
4
7
George
Income and Housing
Median Household Income:
$92, 218
Long-term resident (5 years): 23%
Median Age: 33 years
Average Sold Price: $645, 171
Average Rental Price: $2,573
Pet Friendly Rentals: 78%
Marital Status
Singles: 9.7%
Married Couples: 43.7%
Single Parents: 7.3%
Married Couples w/ Kids: 39.3%
Workforce
White Collar-2030
Blue Collar-1486
Race
White alone - 9,544 (88.5%)
Hispanic - 491 (4.6%)
Black alone - 325 (3.0%)
Asian alone - 230 (2.1%)
Two or more races - 172 (1.6%)
American Indian alone - 12 (0.1%)
Other race alone - 11 (0.1%)
Tour Sites
3
1
Diversey
Stewart Warner Corporation
1846 W. Diversey Pkwy.
5
Hamlin Park
3035 N. Hoyne Ave.
2
Costco Wholesale
2746 N. Clybourn Ave.
6
Schneider Elementary School
2957 N. Hoyne Ave.
3
Lathrop Homes
2000 W. Diversey Pkwy.
7
Ms. Marshall’s Classroom
Alcott College Prep School
4
Cotter Boys and Girls Club
in Lathrop Homes
8
Our Local CTA Bus Stops
Belmont & Hoyne; Damen & Wellington
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2
1
1
Stuart Warner Corporation
1846 W. Diversey Pkwy.
Stewart Warner Corporation used to be
located on 1826 W. Diversey. It once provided jobs for 2,500 people, many of who
lived in the community. However, once a
British company bought it, the employee
numbers started decreasing until finally the
new owners decided to take the company
to Mexico, where they could pay employees
less. This left many people in the community
unemployed.
The Local 1154 of the United Worker
Association United Electrical and Radio and
Machine Workers Union tried to keep the
company open. They offered proposals and
ideas on what to do, but the company did
not pay attention to any of their ideas.
Christine Boardman was the union leader at the time of the closing of
Stewart Warner. She fought to keep all union jobs but ended up losing that
fight. The union gave the company a proposal that would have saved the
company more than $20 million, but in the end they were turned away.
Although she was not able to keep the company open, she was successful
in bringing the community together to fight.
After the company was closed, there
was a fire that destroyed the buildings.
Community members tried to give their
input on what the site should be used for,
but once again, their voices were not heard.
Now at the site of the Stewart Warner
Factory, there is a gated community. The
name of the community is Landmark Village
and it consists of 214 units. On average
the cost for living in Landmark Village is
$250,000 to $650,000. It is like its own little
community that is isolated from the rest of
the community. There are gates surrounding
the Village, and this makes it unwelcoming.
We as students do not feel welcomed at
Landmark Village, and while we may feel
welcomed by the rest of the community, and
feel connected to it, we feel like we are not
wanted in part of the community. Instead
of providing people with housing that they
could afford, or quality jobs, people were
displaced only to have wealthy people move
in and isolate themselves. In our opinion,
nothing is being gained by building a gated
community and more expensive housing
in this community. Due to this change this
area is becoming unaffordable for many who
have lived in the community for a long time.
Stewart Warner
Corporation used
to be located at
1826 W. Diversey.
The name of the
community is
Landmark Village
and it consists of
214 units.
Now at the site of
the Stewart Warner
Factory, there is a
gated community.
2
Employment is
important to
the community
because they want
residents to have
opportunities that
will support
themselves and
their families.
Costco Wholesale
2746 N. Clybourn Ave.
The Cotter & Company, located at 2746 N.
Clybourn Avenue, was leaving with 900 jobs
in 1996. Most of the employees lived within
walking distance to their job. Along with
the company leaving, there were plans to
create 500 condos in it’s place. The problem
with a gated community in this area is that
it would push out residents who could not
afford the new housing, as well as job loss.
The residents wanted to stay in the community that is affordable for everyone and had
access to employment.
Employment is important to the community
because they want residents to have opportunities that will support themselves and
their families. Currently, more than 90% of
the workers at Costco have earned more
than $15,000 a year. Costco also hires 75%
of their employees that live within 5 miles
of the store. (According to the manager at
the time, Brian Thomas) Full time and part
time workers also receive health, dental,
and vision coverage, which is exactly what
the community members wanted.
According to Liala Buekema, the very
involved Pastor at the Lakeview Lutheran
Church, there were multiple organizations
involved in the fight to save jobs in the community. Liala Buekema said, “We hosted
many meetings and all kinds of informational meetings and conversations.” They were
also trying to “evaluate plans that were put
out by the developers and the alderman.”
The Church of the Good News, Logan
Square Neighborhood Association, Local
Advisory Council of Lathrop, and Hamlin
Park neighbors were all very involved and
important factors in this process. Liala
Buekema stated, “When Costco came to
the table we were very pleased and though
they didn’t bring the big number of jobs
they did meet our hopes for good work
opportunities.”
It is also a site for the youth to come and
hang out while having the feeling of being
accepted. As student at Alcott College Prep,
Armani Perez, states “I feel accepted here
because never once have I been treated
with less than respect from all workers,
even with a large crowd of friends. Unlike
other places in the community, where they
disapprove of a large crowd of teens and
don’t really want them there.” There are
very few sites that the youth feels accepted
in this community and Costco is one place
where we are accepted.
The former Cotter &
Company site is now home to
a Costco Wholesale store.
In 1996, Cotter & Company,
located at 2746 N. Clybourn Ave.,
was leaving with 900 jobs.
“When Costco came to the table we were very
pleased, and though they didn’t bring the
big number of jobs, they did meet our hopes
for good work opportunities.” - Liala Buekema
3
Lathrop Homes, Chicago Public Housing
2000 W. Diversey Pkwy.
The Lathrop Homes were initially built in
1938, to “provide housing to those in need,”
(chicagopatterns.com). It was also convenient housing for WWII soldiers. Building
Lathrop was also a good opportunity to
employ architects in
the city. The plan for
Lathrop was to make
it housing for whites.
Then later, Lathrop
Homes received its
first African American
resident in 1956.
After this,
Lathrop was
diverse. The
CHA has said
that Lathrop
must be redeveloped because it is not diverse. Miguel
Suarez, resident of Lathrop, tells my research group that Lathrop is in fact diverse,
and in the past has been very diverse. He
tells us that it has consistently been a third
white, a third black, and a third hispanic.
In our opinion, CHA is going about this project in the wrong way. Their plan was to tear
down the buildings and start fresh, along
with relocating residents of public housing do to reconstructing. Suarez and other
sources tell us that the people who were
forced to move out, were given vouchers.
With these vouchers, people paid a third
of the rent and the rest would be paid for.
However, people with vouchers reported
having more problems in the neighborhoods
they ended up in than people living in public
housing communities (urban.org). The
CHA failed to provide definite housing to
residents, which caused them to lose their
homes.
These realities relate to the issue of gentrification. The CHA wants to make 45-80%
of the units market rate housing, according
to multiple sources. This means that a lot of
the people that lived there before will not be
able to come back and new, wealthier residents will move in. Because of this reality,
the people of Lathrop are currently fighting
against this plan. The Lathrop Leadership
Team have protested and have had meetings
to figure out alternatives.
The CHA should renovate what is already
there, and let the old residents return. They
should use the money they’re using on
reconstruction to invest in the community’s
resources and keep the people there, then
the community as a whole would greatly
improve rather than change.
4
Cotter Boys and Girls Club
in Lathrop Homes
The Cotter Boys and Girls clubs is a
second home to Alcott College Prep
students. A place where we go to play
games, practice, hang out, do homework,
eat, and have fun. It is a place where we
feel warmth and invited. Children from
all around Chicago come here and feel
welcomed. The club offers necessities
like clothing, hygienic supplies, food, and
housing supplies. For Alcott Students,
our connection with the Boys and Girls
club began from a simple welcoming hi.
However, the Boys and Girls club as of
right now isn’t included In the redevelopment plan for the Lathrop Homes which
means this site won’t exist, and because
of that, kids will lose out on the opportunities that the Boys and Girls club offers.
From a survey conducted
with 150 students that
attend Alcott, 60% of the
students use the boys
and girls club, while ⅓
of these students use it
daily, the rest use it for
activities like sports.
96% of these students
use this facility after
school, showing the
importance of students
actively participating
in positive activities
during their free time.
Therefore, we believe
that shutting down the
Boys and Girls Club will
have a crucial impact
on this community. The
boys and girls club isn’t
just a place where kids
go and play games, it’s a
place that allows growth
for every child walking
through the doors.
5
The park was named
after Hannibal Hamlin,
who was Abraham
Lincoln’s Vice President
Hamlin Park
Chicago Park District, 3035 N. Hoyne Ave.
In 1908, residents of the area petitioned
for a new a park in the area. In 1910,
they built Hamlin Park which was named
after Hannibal Hamlin, who was Abraham
Lincoln’s Vice President. Currently, the park
offers a large variety of facilities available for
use such as a pool, several basketball courts,
gyms, tennis courts and baseball fields.
Alcott is only 6th place on Hamlin’s priority
list and is not allowed to use the facilities
even when they are not being used. This
started happening after an incident when
Alcott and Ogden students fought in Hamlin.
However, Alcott paid Hamlin for all the damages, but our connection with Hamlin has
not been the same.
Many people, including students from
Alcott, go to Hamlin Park for their gyms and
basketball courts to practice their sports
(which include volleyball or basketball) or just
use it as a place to hang out, which is one
of the reasons this particular site is considered a youth site. Before, Alcott students
were comfortable to go inside to play in the
gym but now we only tend to stay outside.
Students only go inside the field house
when the gym is available, which is hardly
ever. Our school now has to find new locations for all the school functions and games
since they claim their gym is “not available”.
If the park did not exist, students and
residents would lose a place to hang out
and blow off steam as well as a popular
place to play various sports. But at this point,
it seems that Alcott has little to no relationship with Hamlin at all. Hamlin Park has
plenty of things to offer to the school, but
we are not allowed to take apart of them.
Since we cannot use their facilities, Alcott
has to travel miles to have a home game
for some of our sports even though there
is open space right across the street. And
now, students of Alcott probably won’t have
a home gym to play their games since the
Boys and Girls Club that we use might be
closing soon. If this happens, then what?
Alcott students would have to travel further
to play home games, which begin to feel not
much like home.
Hamlin Park offers a
large variety of facilities
available for use.
Alcott students
were comfortable to
go inside to play in the
gym but now we only
tend to stay outside.
Hamlin Park has plenty of
things to offer to the school,
but we are not allowed to
take apart of them.
6
In September of 2009,
Schneider Elementary
began sharing its
building with Alcott
and Schneider began to
phase out.
Schneider Elementary School
2957 N. Hoyne Ave.
In September of 2009, Schneider
Elementary began sharing its building
with Alcott and Schneider began to phase
out. The majority of Schneider’s students
were residents of the Lathrop Homes.
The Lathrop Homes are a walking distance away from Schnieder, which made it
easier for those students to go to and from
school safely. However, due to The Plan
for Transformation, many residents from
Lathrop were displaced.
With families being displaced, Schneider
began to have low attendance. Low attendance meant that the school could no
longer run and Alcott began to take over
the building. They shared the building for
two years before Schneider became completely phased out. Students that attended
Schneider had to go to Jahn Elementary,
which is not as close or convenient for families that live in Lathrop. One parent, Mary
Thomas, said it’s “about twenty- five minutes” to walk to the school from Lathrop.
Also, in the winter, those walks become a
lot more challenging. The problem is not
the cold winter walks, however, the problem is market rate housing taking over their
community. This, along with the new houses
and gated communities in the neighborhood,
is limiting the amount of youth attending
public schools in the area. As of 2012, Alcott
took over all of the Schneider building and
we have students traveling from all around
Chicago.
As Schneider was getting phased out, Alcott
High School for the Humanities opened in
September of 2009 starting with only freshman. Now, 5 years later our first graduated
class has already graduated and we take
up the whole building filled with about 260
high school students. The name was also
changed to Alcott College Prep. The students value Alcott college prep because it
provides them with not only an education,
but a second home. Being such a small
school, Alcott has lots of benefits, such as
smaller classes allowing for more one on
one time with teachers.
As for Schneider, it is no longer here, but
Alcott College Prep is carrying on their
legacy. This is still where Schneider started and ended. This building will forever be
remembered not only because of Schneider
Elementary and all Lathrop Home kids that
went there, but because they were force
to move due to the redevelopment of the
Homes.
As Schneider was getting phased out,
Alcott High School for the Humanities
opened in September of 2009 starting
with only freshman.
7
Ms. Marshall’s Classroom
Alcott College Prep School, 2957 N. Hoyne Ave.
Youth value Ms. Marshall’s classroom/civics
classroom because it feels like a second
home to them and it’s a place where they
can be exactly who they are without fear
of judgment or persecution. Ms. Marshall’s
class is where students find their voice and
learn how to use it in an effective manner.
It’s a place where your voice is heard by
fellow peers and teachers and it shows you
how you not only have a voice at school,
but most importantly outside of school
in the real world. This location addresses
legitimate issues, problems, and challenges
youth face by being involved in the outside
world and politics.
If youth didn’t have this location/site, students would lose confidence and identity.
They would lose confidence because they
would feel as if they are being unheard and
they’ll lose the ability to take action and
learn how to help make a change in their
community. They’ll lose identity because a
lot of students, when joining this classroom,
find that they enjoy politics and want to go
further. They go further in their education
and try to get into politics because they
know that they want to make a difference
and positively impact peoples’ lives.
We also made a survey, because we wanted to see how much the students who take civics value
it. We found out that 96% said that they do find civics important. At least 83% said that Alcott
should have a civics class available for all four years. Most importantly, 93% said that, yes,
every school should have at least one civics class. This shows us that students value the class
enough to know that others schools should have civics as well. They know that student voice is
valuable and should be valued everywhere else, but most importantly, they want to show others
students that their voices can be heard, and by taking this class it can happen.
8
Our Local CTA Bus Stops
Belmont & Hoyne; Damen & Wellington
The bus stops are where 80% of Alcott
students come to school every morning.
The two main stops are Belmont & Hoyne
and Damen & Wellington. We used a
survey to get a better understanding on our
site’s relevance to Alcott’s student body.
Something else we got from the survey
is that although students are entering this
neighborhood on a daily basis many do
not feel connected to it as a community.
Students may not feel connected to the
community because they grew up in their
own neighborhoods and due to the segregation in Chicago they feel unable to travel to
different neighborhoods throughout the city.
For example, North Lawndale is a community that is considered very different from
a neighborhood such as Logan Square on
the North Side, and for that same reason
students don’t have a connection with the
Alcott community.
Several students come from the west and
south sides and travel all the way up north
to attend our school. Some of these neighborhoods include: North Lawndale, Logan
Square, Englewood, and Austin. Because of
this site students/youth would lose knowledge of the differences within communities
other than their own and it would make it
much harder to have a the school community that Alcott provides.
Recommendations
1. This community needs more open communication about
community issues between ALL members of the community. Therefore, we recommend a community council that
represents all members of the Roscoe Village community
that work with one another to solve community issues in an equal way.
4. Hamlin Park Community Center and Alcott College Prep should meet to rebuild a bond and relationship. Hamlin
could be a wonderful resource for Alcott and a relationship
is much needed. In order to show commitment, Alcott
students are willing to create a contract that will set
guidelines on how students use the community space.
2. The Lathrop Homes should be renovated, but units should be reserved for only subsidized and public housing. There should be no market rate units in Lathrop. Furthermore, all current and displaced residents should have a right to return to the Lathrop Homes after redevelopment. Those residents evicted or barred from the Lathrop Homes due to CHA’s one-strike policy should have their case reviewed, to see if they should be allowed back as well.
5. Job creation in the community that offers employment to
ALL members of the community is a must. There needs
to be a collective effort to bring businesses into the
community that offer fair compensation and benefits to
their workers. A good example of this type of business is
the Costco on Clybourn and Damen, which offers fair wages and quality benefits to many community members that
work there.
3. The Cotter Boys and Girls Club, which is in jeopardy of
closing due to the planned redevelopment of the Lathrop Homes, must be included in the final plan for redevelopment, and must be remodeled.