WEST RIDGE — A grassy lot that once housed cars for a nearby dilapidated movie theater is seeing progress in its quest to become a more attractive green space, records show.
Described by neighbors as an "eyesore" over the years, the 1.8-acre lot known as Park No. 526 hugs the North Shore Channel between Lincoln and Kedzie avenues and Devon Avenue and McCormick Road. It had become unkempt and filled and with weeds and trash over the years.
Earlier this month, the City Council approved using $600,051 in tax increment financing to fund a restoration of the land, which includes an estimated $305,264 in site preparation and landscaping, $106,190 in paving and fencing, $78,000 in features for the park, $57,277 in designs and engineering and $53,320 in soil removal and utilities, city records show.
So far, plans for include improving the existing passive green space and its walking paths, new landscaping and fitness stations.
Ald. Debra Silverstein's (50th) office said it expected work on the project to begin next year.
Some adjacent buildings have already been torn down, including a small car wash, while the former Ogden Cinemas theater is undergoing renovations to become a five-level self-storage building.
On June 6, Cheder Lubavitch Hebrew Day School, which owns the movie theater building, got the green light for the theater's $4.1 million transformation into the storage facility.
The park is owned by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District but leased by the Chicago Park District.
The theater at 6385 N. McCormick Road closed in 2005 and was bought by the school in 2008 when it planned to build a new campus there.
Since then, plans for the storage facility have been slow moving, but they've picked up steam over the last year.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
