Several elected officials are proposing a vacant parcel of land at Canal and 17th Street as an alternative site for a new South Loop high school that Black leaders fear will drain student enrollment at predominately Black schools in Bronzeville.
Community leaders and former residents of the demolished Harold Ickes Homes housing project remain opposed to the construction of the new $120 million high school at 24th and State. That’s where the demolished Harold Ickes Homes once stood.
Opponents are concerned the new school will lure students away from nearby Dunbar Vocational Career Academy and the historic Wendell Phillips Academy High School.
Housing advocates also oppose the location and have urged the Chicago Housing Authority to follow through on its plans to replace the Harold Ickes Homes with a new development as promised in the city’s Plan for Transformation.
Despite those concerns, Chicago Public Schools is moving forward to build the school on the site with the support of Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Aldermen Pat Dowell and Nicole Lee.
With an Asian population that has doubled in the last two decades, residents in Chinatown have been pushing for a new high school in or near the neighborhood.
Last year, the CHA sold the land to CPS for $10 million in a controversial deal that residents say lacked sufficient community input. CPS has put together a design team, which includes 70 percent community groups and local school councils from feeder elementary schools.
But on Monday, February 20, elected officials and opponents held a press conference to propose an alternative site for the new South Loop High School. They want the school built at 17th and Canal, presently a vacant piece of land sandwiched between railroad tracks and an industrial district. The city of Chicago owns the land. Supporters of the proposal say the land is big enough for a new high school and will not require taking land owned by the CHA.
“Use the land you already have, don’t spend the $10 million of CPS to buy a piece of land, it could go to underfunded schools,” said Roderick Wilson of Lugenia Burns Hope Center.
“We lived there for generations with no investment, now all the investment comes, and we can’t live there,” Wilson said.
State Representative Theresa Mah supports the 17th and Canal site. Last year, Mah threatened to withdraw $50 million in state funding if the school is built at 24th and South State.
At Monday’s press conference, Mah said she remains “opposed to the current site that’s been chosen. The city really should have engaged community members a lot more authentically to come up with a site that everyone can agree on. I’m proud to stand here at a site that really hasn’t been considered by the city because they were so quick to choose the one they decided on without consulting the community.”
Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) agreed.
“It’s with great concern that we see the issue of housing taking a big toll on our community,” he said. “We see many people outraged by the situation of homelessness of O’Hare Airport and beyond.”
The proposed South Loop High School has been controversial from the beginning. Last July, Lightfoot ousted CPS Board member Dwayne Truss, who was vocally against the use of CHA land for the high school. CPS and CHA officials were later invited to a town hall meeting with over 75 Bronzeville residents who told them the community did not want the high school. The Hope Center surveyed over 200 residents in one weekend and found that none of them wanted the high school at the former Harold Ickes Homes site.
Angela Lin, a member of People Matter, a Chinatown-based organization, said at Monday’s press conference, “Without adequate community engagement, anything the city does will fail. A lot of parents are saying they don’t want to send their kids to 24th and State. And if a school is built there, they’re not going to go. A lot of parents who are given an alternative say 17th and Canal is what they want. If the city really wants to build a school that will succeed, they need to listen to our Black and Chinese residents.”
Alderman Dowell and Lightfoot’s 11th Ward selection Alderman Nicole Lee support the original site. Lee told ABC7 Chicago on Monday she doesn’t like the proposed site at 17th and Canal because of the traffic and lack of CTA accessibility.
During the press conference, mayoral candidate Willie Wilson said, “I don’t see them representing us but representing the power that got them in.
“Whoever wins this election, they need to hear that our communities don’t want a school at 24th and State. We want our housing. That’s what we need. Black folks have been pushed out of this city more than anybody else.”
