Finding Room to Grow: Benito Juarez High School
Expansion Study
1997
Enrollment at Benito Juarez High School in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood
has been above capacity since its founding in 1977. Local School Council
officials asked the City Design Center to evaluate the need for expansion
and for advice on how to proceed. The Center collected and analyzed comparative
information on facilities and density of other similar schools in Chicago;
population and enrollment trends within the Benito Juarez service area;
and development constraints and possibilities of the surrounding properties.
When compared with other public community high schools in Chicago, Benito
Juarez was among the most crowded, with all of the school’s facilities
inadequate to meet the current needs, and even more so for the projected
student enrollment. Through a series of forums, focus groups, and surveys,
the Center worked collaboratively with school officials, staff, and the
local community to determine their specific space needs and preferences
for several possible building sites. A consensus preference was identified
for expansion to the west to create a school campus.
The City Design Center’s work served as a blueprint for the Local
School Council to use in planning discussions with the Chicago Public
Schools Board of Education and the local community. “The service
of the individuals from the City Design Center, Mr. Gaspard and Ms. Connolly,
has been and is still currently a valuable tool toward the organizational
effort for the construction of building a new facility for Benito Juarez
High School,” said Joe Guzman of the Benito Juarez High School Local
School Council. To date, the Board of Education has allocated $750,000
to the expansion project to be used for land acquisition.
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Map of Chicago with project location
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City Design Center Staff
Andrew Gaspard, Project Coordinator, City Design Center
Collaborating Organization and Institution
Benito Juarez High School Local School Council and Administration
Funding
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
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