Encouraging Community Revitalization: CityLab
1996 in North Lawndale
North Lawndale is a community in transition. In its peak period of development
in the early 20th century, it was a middle-class community with a strong
retail and industrial base. In the last three decades, the community fell
into decline, with population loss and disinvestment. Several recent projects,
however, including new housing at Homan Square and new retail development
planned for Roosevelt Road, demonstrate strong signs of revitalization.
Ongoing commercial development is important to this regeneration, supplying
goods and services close to home, creating jobs, and improving the appearance
of Lawndale’s commercial streets which form vital gateways to the
community.
In the Fall 1996 CityLab studio, students and faculty considered each
of Lawndale’s three primary commercial corridors, working collaboratively
with three North Lawndale community-based organizations: Ogden Avenue
with the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation; Roosevelt Road with
Lawndale Business and Local Development Corporation; and 16th Street with
Agency Metropolitan Program Services. The Chicago Association of Neighborhood
Development Organizations and the City of Chicago Department of Planning
and Development also took part in the projects, providing information
and advice.
Feasibility studies of new commercial and other developments, as well
as building designs, were prepared for particular sites. On Roosevelt
Road, student project teams proposed schematic designs for a new market
place, community center, religious center, women’s and children’s
shelter, and the redesign of a long-standing retail store. Students working
on the 16th Street corridor suggested bolstering existing uses through
a mix of residential, commercial, civic, and religious centers. Schools
and a proposed Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Museum would form the basis
of a new educational corridor. For the Ogden Avenue area, two project
teams developed alternative designs for the conversion of a currently
unused CTA bus barn into a retail facility, while a second team recommended
commercial redevelopment around a CTA elevated train station which would
capitalize on pedestrian traffic.
The work of the students was well received, and has been used by the
community organizations in discussions with developers.
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Map of Chicago with project location
Design
for adaptive reuse of CTA bus barn as a multi-use gateway to North Lawndale,
located at Pulaski and Cermak Roads, by Matthew Sansone, UIC School of
Architecture student, and Thomas Worthy, UIC Urban Planning student
Designs for Geroge's
Music Room, a restaurant, and other commercial development on Roosevelt
Road in North Lawndale, by Faan Charlot Philips and Monika Regelbrugge,
UIC School of Architecture students, and Laura Thompson, UIC Urban Planning
student
Designs for a local market on Roosevelt Road in
North Lawndale, by Mario Cipresso, Howard Lo, and Peter Wesolowski, UIC
School of Architecture students, and Doug Martin, UIC Urban Planning Program
student
Adaptive reuse of an historic bank building on
Roosevelt Road in North Lawndale, by Mario Cipresso, Howard Lo, and Peter
Wesolowski, UIC School of Architecture students, and Doug Martin, UIC
Urban Planning Program student
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City Design Center Affiliated Faculty
Edward Deam, Professor, School of Architecture
George Hemmens, Professor, Urban Planning Program, and Co-Director,
City Design Center
Philip Kupritz, Professor, School of Architecture
Tingwei Zhang, Assistant Professor, Urban Planning Program, and CityLab
Coordinator
Collaborating Organizations and Public Agencies
Agency Metropolitan Program Services
Chicago Association of Neighborhood Development Organizations
Chicago Department of Planning and Development
Lawndale Business and Local Development Corporation
Lawndale Christian Development Corporation
Funding
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
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