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January 2019   Newsletter 
Upcoming
SLN Events

Candidates Forums 

4th Ward Forum 

7 pm, Jan. 24

Grace Place, 637 S. Dearborn

 

3rd Ward Forum
7 pm, Jan. 29

Second Presbyterian Church,
1936 S. Michigan

 

SLN Public Meeting 

Topic - Planning & Development

7 pm, Feb. 13

Grace Place, 637 S. Dearborn

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 A NEW YEAR FULL OF EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES!

A New Year

At the SLN Board meeting held in early January, the board not only voted on the various officer positions but also began planning activities and events to be held during 2019.

Officers for 2019: 
                 President - Jim Wales 
                 Vice-President - Benjamin Cottrell
                 Dennis McClendon - Vice-President of Planning
                                                         & Development 
                 Dorothy Miaso - Treasurer
                 Robert Degnan - Secretary
                 Christine Hunt - Director
                 Roger Marsh - Director   

At the board's annual Planning Meeting, we discussed and initiated a plethora of activities throughout the year. The board is happy to present many events this year including the Candidate Forums in January, a Public Meeting on Planning and Development in February, and other activities such as the Kayak Tour, Pub Crawl, Yard Sale, Grills Night Out, and the signature Loft Walk, as well as other new activities!  Keep your eyes peeled in upcoming editions of the newsletter, as well as updates on SLN's Facebook Page! It promises to be an an exciting year!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Candidates Forums

As we enter the new year, we find the local municipal election right around the corner. In order to provide a venue for our members to gather more information on candidates, South Loop Neighbors has partnered with Greater South Loop Association and Indivisible Printers Row to provide a forum for candidates in both the 3rd and 4th wards. Both forums will be organized around your questions for the candidates, and will be moderated by  Robin Charleston of the League of Women Voters.

4th Ward Candidate Forum
7 pm, Thur., Jan. 24
Grace Place, 637 S. Dearborn St.
Candidates:  Sophia King and  Ebony Lucas

3rd Ward Candidate Forum
Tuesday, Jan. 29th, 2019, 7-9 pm
2nd Presbyterian Church, 1936 S. Michigan Ave.
Candidates:  Patricia Dowell and  Alexandria Willis

Mayoral Forums
sponsored by other organizations
1/28 6 pm Northwestern Univ Law School,
375 E Chicago
Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
2/6 7 pm Venue SIX10,
610 S. Michigan
Crains Business ($50 charge)
2/9 1 pm The Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington National Council of Jewish Women

SLN Public Meeting
7 pm, Feb. 13, Grace Place 

Our next meeting will be our annual roundup of South Loop development, presented by Dennis McClendon, our Vice-President for Planning and Development. This is one of SLN's most attended meetings as residents learn about current and planned developments for our neighborhood.   

DEVELOPMENT

15th & Clark Red Line Station 
Ald. Dowell announced on Jan. 11 that she would not support a new CTA Red Line station at the southeast corner of 15th and Clark. In response, Related Midwest said it would plan to put the station on the west side of Clark. Residents of Dearborn Park II had loudly objected to location of the new station near them, and to the temporary closure of Cotton Tail Park during construction.

Moving the entry headhouse to the other side of the street is one thing, but putting the platforms there will require quite a bit of creative engineering, because the subway line both begins to curve and begins to slope upward just west of Clark St.

New Towers for Printers Row West 
717 S. Clark    At the December SLN Annual Meeting, CMK presented its plans for the parking lot just north of the former Palmer Printing building in the 700 block of Clark. The new apartment tower would be  29 stories with 349 units. Office uses and 96 parking stalls would go in the old printing building. Despite the existing building's handsome 1938 Moderne brick façade, it appears a new glass front will somehow be applied to tie into the tower design. 


633 S. LaSalle   Not much is yet known about this rendering of a tower on LaSalle Street between Library Lofts and the ComEd substation. At her Jan. 14 town hall, Ald. King said the developer was proposing no parking spaces, which was of concern to her. (Under a recent change to Chicago zoning, parking is not required for new buildings built close to transit stations.)

 
New Printers Row retail
There's been no official announcement yet, but looks like  Totto's Market will be the ground floor retail tenant in the new residence being built at 777 S. Dearborn.

A few doors north, expect a summer opening for the Grail Cafe at 715 S. Dearborn.

Get a full report on neighborhood development at our Feb. 13 meeting, or the latest South Loop development news can always be found at SouthLoopUpdate.com

LOFT WALK

  Loft Walk 2018 was a Success!

THANK YOU for all of the home owners, volunteers, and participants for making this years LOFT WALK a huge success! It was wonderful to celebrate our 20th year of this great community event durning the holidays! Everyone's homes looked beautiful! Would you like more information about how you can be involved next year by featuring your home? 

Contact Benjamin at  loftwalk@southloopneighbors.org


IN BRIEF






"LIKE" and "FOLLOW" our Facebook Page!
Join the South Loop Neighbors on our Facebook Page!  facebook.com/SouthLoopNeighbors. Stay informed about upcoming events, planning & development, and community related activities/issues. Do you have something you would like to be added to our Page? Send to  Benjamin@southloopneighbors.org.



Wintrust Arena and Soldier Field events
 www.WintrustArena.com for a full list of events

New 311 System
Test out the new 311 system. The City of Chicago is upgrading to a new 311 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. If you'd like to test the new system, sign up, register at  www.whatsthe311.org and provide your name and email address.

Other Neighborhood Events

CAPS meetings for 2019

Beats  121,122,123 & 124 
Meetings will be  held the 2nd Wednesday of every  month  at 6:30 pm, with two exceptions: Jul. 9 & Oct. 8.  The meetings are held at 525 S. State Street. 
The next meeting is February 13, 2019. 

Beat 132 
Meetings will held the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 6:30 pm. The meetings are held at the 1st District Station, 1718 S. State Street.  The next meeting is February 19, 2019.

Beat 133
Meetings will be held the 3rd Wednesday of every minty at 6:30 pm. The meeting are held at Prairie Shire, 2901 S. Martin Luther King Drive.  The next meeting is February 20, 2019. 


Executive Director Claire Rice, Broadway In Chicago President Lou Raizin and Vice President Eileen LaCario, and League of Chicago Theatres Executive Director Deb Clapp, are pleased to announce the 2019 Chicago Mayoral Arts Forum on Sun., Feb. 10 at Broadway In Chicago's Broadway Playhouse, located at 175 E. Chestnut in Chicago . Open to the general public, the event begins at 6pm and will conclude at approximately 8pm. Admission is free.

Book  Presentation  and Signing 
Lost Restaurants of Chicago:  Authors Greg Borzo and Doug  Hohn  in Conversation
Thurs, Jan 24, 2019 (6:00PM - 7:15PM) Harold Washington Library Center
A lively conversation when Greg Borzo is joined by Doug Sohn to discuss Borzo's new book titled  Lost Restaurants of Chicago Sohn is the author of  Hot Doug's .
 

Women's Park
Winter Activities - Click
here  for registration and additional information. Registration begins December 4.
 


 Town Hall Meetings 
   
Winter Break Park District Camp 
Click here  for more information and reservations.   

Glessner House 

Museum Free Days 
Field Museum: 
January 21, February 1-28 

Adler Planetarium: 
January 21-22, 29-31; February 5-7, 12-14, 18-21, 26-28

Shedd Aquarium  
January 17-21 and every weekday in February

Art Institute of Chicago
In addition to the free admission on every Thursday evening from 5 - 8 pm, all daylong free admission is available every weekday from January 7- February 15 and February 19-20. 

Museum of Science and Industry 
January 21-24, 28-31; February 4-7, 11-14, 19-21, 25-28  
 
Your New Board

 
Benjamin Cottrell - Vice-President
Benjamin heads up his own firm - Benjamin Cottrell Designs, which is an innovative, full-service design firm, specializing in Interior Design and Event Production.  Benjamin joined the board in 2012 and has served as both our secretary and vice-president, and for the past four years has served as the Chair of Loft Walk.  Always the innovator, he took on the photo show in 2017 and over the years has set-up various collaborations with local businesses.
 
Robert Degnan - Secretary
Rob joined the board of South Loop Neighbors in 2014. He is an alumni of the University of Illinois at Chicago where he earned Bachelor's and Master's Degrees and is now working on a PhD.  He is a veteran having served 8 years as a reservist in the U.S. Marine Corps, and has worked for the City of Chicago since 1994, currently for the city's Department of Transportation. He served as secretary this past year and played a dual role of Membership Chair which had him organizing the annual member dinner. He has also been involved in various ways with all of our projects.

Christine Hunt - Director
Christine is an attorney in private practice in the South Loop and is an adjunct professor at The John Marshall Law School.  Christine joined the board in December 2014.  She served two years as the membership chair and was elected president in 2017.  As president, Christine has been overseeing all of the organization's external relations and internal and external communication including chairing the monthly board meetings and quareterly member meetings.  She has also been deeply involved with the annual Loft Walk, and organized the Night Out at Sox Park.

Roger Marsh - Director
Roger joined the South Loop Board in December 2016, and has taken on several projects this past year.  Those of you who were at the candidate's meeting might remember his impressive presentation on charting the voting patterns of residents in the 4th Ward. He's done similar studies on crime in our area as well.  He has been involved with a variety of our projects, especially outreach-related ones such as passing out ice cream and public information the farmer's market, as well as at the Spoke and Bird. 

Dennis McClendon - Vice-President of Planning & Development 
Dennis probably doesn't need much of an introduction, expect for those who are new to South Loop Neighbors, as Dennis is pretty close to being the face of South Loop Neighbors, for his long tenure with the organization and its predecessor - Historic Printer's Row - and has held multiple positions, including President and Vice-President over the years. He is an attorney and the proprietor of Chicago CartoGraphics, a design firm that specializes in maps and information graphics.

Dorothy Miaso - Treasurer
Dorothy joined the board in December 2013 and has served as Treasurer for the past two years.  She has spearheaded the annual Night at Jazz Showcase, assisted with most of the organization's activities, and, like all of the board members has been involved in various ways with the Loft Walk.  She is the Executive Director of the Literacy Volunteers of Illinois, and a past community member of the Local School Council of Jones College Prep.

Jim Wales - President
Jim worked in law enforcement administration for over 30 years and for 20 years has been an adjunct faculty member at a suburban community college.   He is a retired chief of police for a suburban community and is very active in Rotary, where he serves as an International Service Advisor regarding volunteer service projects another countries.  After retiring from law enforcement, he settled in to the South Loop and is a Realtor with the South Loop office for Baird & Warner.