MORGAN PARK — The Beverly Arts Center raised slightly more than $16,000 as of Thursday — well exceeding its goal for a matching $10,000 grant.
The community art center at 2407 W. 111th St. originally had until Aug. 24 to raise $10,000 that would then be matched by CSX Transportation Inc. and an anonymous corporate donor.
But that deadline was extended to Thursday after the Morgan Park-based arts center raked in just $8,926 as of the early cutoff point.
The additional week clearly paid off, according to interim executive director Shellee Frazee, who thanked donors Thursday in an email titled, "We did it!"
"As a result of your amazing generosity, we knocked our goal out of the park," Frazee said in the written message. She previously pledged that the money will be used to upkeep the facility, pay staff, provide programming and more.
Jacksonville-based CSX owns a pair of railroad lines that run through the 19th Ward, including the Elsdon Rail Line, which runs parallel to Sacramento Avenue and the Blue Island Spur Line, which runs parallel with Rockwell Street.
