HYDE PARK — The last year on the south lakefront seemed to be all about the wait.
The February election didn’t decide three ward races, so another election was held. The Obama presidential library was going to be announced in March, then it was delayed until May and it’s still not clear where exactly it’s going to go.
It's just been a lot of waiting for the South Side over the last year, as evidenced by the stories that mattered the most in the area:
1. Local elections go down to the wire: The year started with voters in the 7th, 10th and 20th wards waiting to vote again after the February election sent the aldermanic races into runoff. The 10th Ward voters probably had it the worst, when it took two weeks to certify all the votes and announce that Susan Sadlowski Garza had beat incumbent John Pope by just 20 votes.
Throughout the election, the city was waiting to hear whether President Barack Obama had picked Chicago for his presidential library over rival sites in New York and Hawaii. The Obama Foundation had been expected to pick a location in March, but then put off the decision.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was also forced in February into a runoff election against Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and his allies dump vast sums of money into political groups on the South Side and aldermen finding new loopholes to funnel cash from city contractors to embattled candidates.
2. Obama picks Chicago: In May, with Emanuel re-elected, the Obama Foundation choose the South Side for the presidential library after it announced it would go with the University of Chicago’s proposal over pitches from New York and elsewhere.
But the wait continued for the university’s proposed sites, Jackson and Washington parks, as the Foundation still hasn't chosen a final site.
The speculation around the library has sparked enough curiosity in the neighborhoods to revive long-dormant projects like a data center in Washington Park, but the extended wait has also fueled paranoia and worry among the poorest in both neighborhoods like the homeless veterans at the RTW Veteran’s Center that the library will push them out.
3. U. of C. announces plans to build a trauma center: Thankfully for some, particularly those fighting for care for those injured by gun violence, another wait is about to end. In September, the University of Chicago announced it would open a trauma center at Holy Cross Hospital with Sinai Health Systems after being the target of five years of protests. But then the university reversed its longstanding position and announced in December it would open a trauma center on campus instead, a longtime dream of many healthcare activists.
4. South Shore Dominick's site back to square one: In South Shore, many are still waiting for a grocery store. The Dominick’s that shuttered in late 2013 still sits empty. A grocer that promised in January to move in to the space vanished and everyone seems to be back at the beginning, with the building owner now debating breaking up the space as a new tactic to lure a grocer or other retailer into the building.
5. Theaster Gates and others set sites on the neighborhood: Gates, the U. of C. professor extraordinaire, turned an old bank into an "arts bank" on the border of the neighborhood and also announced plans for a sculpture garden. There is hope of renewed interest in the neighborhood as investors snap up more property and developers talk about a new movie theater and bowling alley in the shuttered Urban Partnership Bank.
But for now, the wait goes on.
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