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West Loop Group Opposes Children's Theater Plan, Wants Library Instead

By Stephanie Lulay | October 9, 2014 8:49am | Updated on October 9, 2014 8:51am
 The Chicago Children's Theatre wants to move to an empty former police station at 100 S. Racine Ave.
The Chicago Children's Theatre wants to move to an empty former police station at 100 S. Racine Ave.
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DNAinfo/Chloe Riley

WEST LOOP — A West Loop neighborhood group has come out against a plan for a former police station to be redeveloped into a children's theater.

While the group's initial concern was traffic, members of the Neighbors of the West Loop organization ultimately decided to oppose the project because they felt a transfer of city-owned property to the private children's theater "for a nominal fee" was wrong, said Bob Aiken, the group's vice president.

Instead, they want the city to retain the building and work to develop a community center or library at the site.

The Chicago Children's Theatre first announced plans to move into the old Near West District police station, 100 S. Racine Ave., in August.

In a letter sent this week to Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th), Aiken wrote that high property values in the West Loop made it difficult for the city to acquire land for needed public facilities. The community has a need for a community center, indoor gym space and a library, he said.

“No other centrally located public property exists in the West Loop that can accommodate [these] public purposes,” Aiken wrote. “This area is one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in Chicago and public amenities are needed to support existing residents and families as well as future families that are moving here.”

While the Chicago Park District has turned down the property, a group of West Loop parents have launched a campaign to support building a public library at the former police station.

Aiken added that the group would welcome the Chicago Children’s Theatre at another location in the West Loop.

The West Loop Community Organization, another neighborhood group, supports the children's theater project, Martha Goldstein, the group's executive director, said Wednesday. The West Central Association Chamber of Commerce has also written a letter of support to Burnett, according to Jay Kelly, Chicago Children's Theatre spokesman.

In September, Burnett said that a vast majority of neighbors supported the project, and that he was personally on board with the plan that would bring "more culture and the arts" to the neighborhood.

The children’s theater would not result in the constant traffic or parking issues that a high-density residential building would attract, Burnett said.

Plans to renovate the building into a theater, estimated to cost $15 million, are in “very preliminary stages," Kelly said. The theater plans to begin construction in the spring, with first performances in the spring of 2016.

Kelly declined to further discuss project plans.

Started in 2005, the Chicago Children’s Theatre is now based out of Wicker Park, where it has administrative offices at 1464 N. Milwaukee Ave. but no permanent home for the theater. The company  partners with theaters including Redmoon, the Goodman and the Ruth Page Center for the Arts to host performances.

The Near West District police moved into a new station at 1412 S. Blue Island Ave. at the end of 2012. The site has been used by the NBC television show "Chicago Fire" for filming.

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