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Read the press release here.

New 38th Ward Office to Open Monday

   
 For 35 years, residents of the far Northwest Side have been able to take their complaints about city services and requests for help to the ward office at 5817 W. Irving Park Road, in Portage Park's  Irving Austin Business District .  Starting Monday,   Cullerton   will set up shop at 6622 W. Irving Park Road in the Dunning neighborhood.
New 38th Ward Office
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PORTAGE PARK — It is the end of an era in the 38th Ward.

For 35 years, residents of the far Northwest Side have been able to take their complaints about city services and requests for help to the ward office at 5817 W. Irving Park Road, in Portage Park's Irving Austin Business District.

"I hate to leave there," Ald. Tim Cullerton said. "The building has been really good to us."

Starting Monday, Cullerton will set up shop at 6622 W. Irving Park Road in the Dunning neighborhood. The ward also includes parts of Old Irving Park.

Cullerton's father, Thomas, who served as the 38th Ward alderman from 1973 to 1993, bought the building and it has been used as the ward office ever since. Thomas Cullerton, who died while in office, was replaced by Tom Allen, who is Tim Cullerton's wife's brother.

The building is now owned by Cullerton's 89-year-old mother, Betty, who is preparing to enter an assisted living facility and plans to sell the building to fund her care, Cullerton said.

"I'm anxious to get up and running" at the new office, Cullerton said.

The new ward office is next to Superior Nuts and Candy, long a neighborhood landmark.

"My wife has made me promise not go in there every day," Cullerton said, chuckling.

Because of the move, the annual 38th Ward city sticker sales event will take place from noon-6 p.m. June 12 at the Merrimac Park Field House, 6343 W. Irving Park Road.

The 38th Ward has long been a family affair for the Cullertons.

Tim Cullerton was tapped by former Mayor Richard Daley to replace Allen, who stepped down from the city council as a Cook County judge in 2010. He won a full term as alderman in 2011, and is facing re-election in 2015.

Members of Cullerton's family, including two of his father's uncles, served on the council dating back to 1871.