Chicago Reader: Roseland’s transformation captured in 1970 student film

Via thechicagoneighborhoods.com

I tweeted about this last week and unfortunately it doesn't say about when this film will see the light of day. Roseland - like say Englewood - had seen better days though residents of both communities I'm sure want to see better days returns. And certainly Englewood is working to make their community better.

On the other hand Roseland is looking for a jumpstart which could be the red line extension whenever CTA gets the necessary funding to start the project. However, that future project will be one development among many to bring Roseland back to what it used to be 50+ years ago.

Read this article from the Chicago Reader also there is a podcast where these students two men who shot this film in the 1970s were interviewed talking about this film. Give it a listen.

"You knew that if you went out into the streets of Roseland with a camera, you were gonna see something." https://t.co/KQLjSYwEnB

— Chicago Reader (@Chicago_Reader) June 6, 2018

Update on the planning for CTA Red Line extension

CTA Red Line extension

Recently got an update with regards to where the Chicago Transit Authority is currently with the planned Red Line extension south from 95th Street to 130th St. near Altgeld Gardens. You can read a two sheet update here from their official website.

With this in mind there are two videos with regards to the extension which in my opinion is beneficial to the far south side of Chicago. However, what I strive to do on this blog is to be fair and the first video is a local homeowner who is opposed to the Red Line extension because it's construction means the destruction of homes as far as whatever alignment the CTA will choose.

This first video is courtesy of The Chicago Reporter - and posted to YouTube in December 2016 - and shows commentary by Shari Henry who opposes the extension as the project could threaten her family home. We see a drive around through the communities that are affected by this proposed project. As I may hope there could be further development Henry uses 95th as a guide with little business development around the 95th Terminal. [VIDEO]

The next video shows a proposal for the revitalization of the intersection at 115th & Michigan - although yeah they refer to this as 116th & Michigan. This is geared towards transit oriented development with mixed use buildings that hopefully will include storefronts, low-income housing, a grand entrance to the nearby L station, and greenspace to be used for community events. Seems like a great plan that should be considered even if it must be refined. The video was posted to YouTube in May 2017. [VIDEO]

Here's yet another video which was posted to YouTube in Dec. 2012 - 4 years ahead of The Chicago Reporter video with Shari Henry. Of course this is a video that is in favor of the Red Line extension to 130th Street and certainly wants us to know the benefits of building this extension. An hour commute to downtown Chicago for cultural, education, or even jobs. The far south side won't be so disconnected or it won't take so long to take advantage of all the opportunities the city of Chicago has to offer. [VIDEO]

Forgot to add the above video was before the 2013 Red Line south reconstruction and before the current redevelopment of the 95th Red Line terminal.

What you see below is the project development phase which is the final environmental impact statement and record of decision as far as the Red Line alignment along the Union Pacific Railroad route. I suppose this means which side of the tracks will have their properties impacted which is also explained in the two-page report from CTA.

Standing water at Abbott Park

After today's heavy rains this is how Abbott Park at 95th & Michigan had fared earlier this afternoon. After the heavy snow melts and with heavy precipitation it seems prone to standing water in the grassy areas of the park. And standing water on the sidewalks surrounding the park.

Abbott Park flooded #weather #rain #chicagogram #chicagoparks

A post shared by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on Mar 30, 2017 at 12:20pm PDT

If you have any weather related pics send them to us or tag us on Instagram.

Movies in the Park "Home" at Abbott Park TONIGHT

One of the last "Movies in the Park" will be showing TONIGHT. Meet us at Abbott Park, 49 E. 95th Street (That's 95th & Michigan).

The movie begins around 8pm (i.e. Dusk). You are welcome to bring blankets, chairs, and food

We hope to see you

there TONIGHT!

Send an e-mail to bloh@thesixthward.us before 7pm today if you'd like to connect with one of the writers of this blog!

This event is sponsored by the Chicago Park District.

Marathon Pundit: The abandoned homes of Chicago's violent West Pullman neighborhood (or Roseland part two)

More urban exploration with John Ruberry - the Marathon Pundit. I don't agree that Chicago is a dying city, my belief is that we're a long way from becoming Detroit. The question we have to ask now is what to do about those many neighborhoods in our city that has foreclosed homes, vacant lots or even boarded up abandoned buildings and homes. That seems to be a frequent feature we've seen at the Marathon Pundit blog of late. Is there a way Chicago can turn around the decline in our neighborhoods?

For additional reading he did another post about the South Works project near the South Shore/South Chicago neighborhoods. There have been some ambitious plans for that area over the years and then as of this year nothing. Developers have pulled out of any project and now the future of this site is up in the air. Which is a shame too because the Lake Shore Drive extension is certainly looking for more activity.

BTW, I must note the above photograph. This is the corner of 115th & Michigan which when the Red Line extension is built I hope will become a hub of activity. For now unfortunately the site remains vacant until the Chicago Transit Authority is ready to construct this extension. And until the right developer is ready to further develop this land whether or not this extension is built.

Roseland Theater and the future of the neighborhood

11331 S. Michigan Avenue

Crossposted from "Shedd School" blog

For the past month I've went to the Pullman neighborhood to document that part of the city. And I've allowed myself the opportunity to also document the nearby communities as well. Most of what you see documented is photographed on my cameraphone often utilizing an olloclip lens.

So last week I took a quick stroll one late afternoon in Roseland and stopped in front of the Roseland Theater Building. This old building appears to be going through some remodeling and changing tenants in the storefronts as they appear to be vacant currently.

This former neighborhood movie house is looking for new use having long since stopped showing movies. According to Cinema Treasures - link above - it is being converted into retail use. Though this news hasn't changed for years so perhaps a number of things happened and I don't see a lot of progress.

However, I have one potential idea and it would involve doing something similar to what was done with the Logan Theater. It was rehabbed in 2011 and is a second run movie house and is a story you can read here - unfortunately that story is behind a paywall in spite of being published in 2012. Perhaps when the time is right that story of a deep pocketed developer who comes in to redevelop this building could happen here at the Roseland Theater.

In the meanwhile as I document Pullman as it is in 2016 a year after it was designated a national monument and other development activities there my hope is that this spreads across Cottage Grove. Roseland and the business district that sits on Michigan Ave from between 103rd & 115th Street can see some of the effects of being so close to a very successful tourist destination.

And furthermore I hope that in the near future we can see further progress on bringing the red line from 95th through Roseland. Thus the Roseland can certainly have a future similar to the Logan Theater which also isn't that far from a CTA L station.

ALSO you can see some of the photos of Pullman and Roseland over at The Sixth Ward's ig account. Here's the post below of the Roseland Theater.

More details on purchase of the Blue White House

Photo by Dennis Rodkin

Last month I wrote about this so-called blue White House @ 8401 S. Michigan in fact the first blog update on this big old house in years. Chicago Magazine wrote about this place over 5 years ago and finally has an update:

An unusual, quasi-presidential property on the South Side sold for $400,000 last week.

The “blue White House” is a 7,900-square-foot, ivory-pillared manse in Chatham that closely resembles its big sister on Pennsylvania Avenue—save for a vivid robin’s-egg blue paint job.

“I wasn’t crazy about the blue brick,” says Karen Tolbert, who on January 22 closed the sale with her fiancé, Dana Hillard. “But when I walked in, I just fell in love with it.”

Tolbert says that at a gathering that night to celebrate the couple’s purchase, Hillard’s friends begged her not to alter the 50-year-old home’s exterior. Hillard had grown up just blocks away. Tolbert couldn’t say no. “It’s a staple in the community, so [painting is] something I won’t be doing,” she says.

What happened to the person who rehabbed this house and originally put it up for sale?

Shaunda Brown, a Chatham resident who told Chicago she had admired the house as a child, purchased it that year and embarked on a $400,000 gut rehab, revamping the interior with granite countertops and hardwood floors, converting an old smoking room into a media room, and transforming a former ballroom into a spacious master bedroom.

Brown tried to sell the property in 2010 for $1 million. No one bit.

Foreclosure proceedings began in 2014, and by October 2015 the house was back on the market, its previous price slashed in half, to $425,000.

I hope that Tolbert gets a landmark designation for this unique home and that more will be know about the history of this home. Especially the people who originally built this house with the unique blue Italian brick.

Konkol: Roseland's Only Steak House Survives Tough Times Down At 'The Ranch'

Photo by Mark Konkol - Yolanda Pierce from right and two employees

All the times I passed this place on Michigan Ave and never been inside. It seems to be one of the few consistent businesses on this stretch. It survived a long time and apparently still does although times and demographics have changed since this business opened in 1969.

On a morning stroll, I hiked west from Pullman and under the 113th Street viaduct that leads to the wrong side of the tracks.

I walked past Palmer Park, where the faint scent of marijuana hung in the cool, humid air, and headed up the hill toward Michigan Avenue — Roseland’s once-vibrant shopping strip now populated by hustlers, pimps and dealers who openly cater to the vices of the addicted, the desperate and the damned — on my way to “The Ranch.”

That’s what locals call the neighborhood’s only surviving steak joint, where you can get a T-bone, charbroiled just the way you like it, with a baked potato and salad for less than 20 bucks. And they serve tasty breakfast — two eggs with hash browns and toast for under $5 — all day long.

The late John Kapsaskis opened The Ranch Steak House at 11147 S. Michigan Ave. in 1969. Back then, Roseland was home to mostly blue-collar white families who later fled to the suburbs when black folks moved in and good-paying steel mill jobs dried up. His son, Dino — “The Greek Cowboy,” as one photo behind the counter calls him — kept the family steakhouse going even as the neighborhood’s population changed and its economy slumped.

Inside the front door is a far different world than the one left behind on the sidewalk. A set of bull horns hang from the ceiling. A sign welcomes customers to a dimly lit dining room decorated with carved Indian chief statues and faded photos of cowboys, those rifle-toting white men on horseback from Hollywood westerns.

Yolanda Pierce runs the ranch although the family who owns it no longer appears to be involved. Pierce's ex-fiance who's family runs the business is out taking care of his elderly mother in Greece. So now it's Pierce:

She’s the blond-haired, blue-eyed gal, a former hair stylist from Griffith, Indiana, who runs The Ranch now that Dino Kapsaskis — the owner and her ex-fiance — packed up and moved to Greece to take care of his 93-year-old mother.

Pierce’s friends tell her she should be angry that Kapsaskis left her to run The Ranch by herself, unsure if he’ll ever return.

“Even though he is my ex, this is his business. Dino could have sold this place. He always said business is business. He felt like he was doing me a favor. If I go anywhere else I’ll make minimum wage. What can I do?” Pierce said.

“We still care about each other enough to keep it going. I’m not mad at him. He did what he had to do. I’m taking care of my mother. I take care of my daughter. I do what I got to do.”

If you read the rest of the article she'll not that this place considering it's location isn't making a huge profit but she emphasizes how she helps her employees:

She doesn’t just do it for herself and her own family. The Ranch is the lifeblood that keeps a lot of people — her dishwasher, waitresses and cooks and even Kapsaskis, whom Pierce sends cash she considers “rent” — on the winning side of “the struggle.”

“They say when you eat at Outback Steakhouse or one of those chain places you’re paying for the owner's private jets and fancy houses. What we make helps everyone here. Nobody makes a lot of money. Here, you’re paying for our people to buy clothes for their kids,” Pierce said.

“I just feel like I don’t care if it’s a struggle. I’m gonna keep it going and that’s how Dino feels, too. No matter what, we’re going to try to keep The Ranch open for as long as can. Either things are going to get better or … whatever.”

I suggest you read the whole thing. This is a course on how to run a business in a difficult community to own a business. You may not agree with everything Griffith says about parking meters or minimum wage

Here's hoping The Ranch survives for any position renaissance that I expect Roseland to one day have. Especially when the CTA Red Line is finally extended further south. Plus I hope that the Pullman National Monument will have an effect on the surrounding communities as well.

Harlan Community Education Advisory Committee. #harlanfalcons

Photo credit Levois J.

Received this e-mail from the President of the Roseland Heights Community Association. Interesting
development, and I'm hoping the surround community would be willing to be involved with Harlan Community Academy High School:

• Hello Everyone,
  
  
  As you may be aware, Harlan High School has a new prinicipal. She has asked for community support to lead the school to good standing status.
  
  I have spoken with many of you about the importance of the schools in our community. The challenge facing Harlan requires a concerted effort and our support to reach the level of performance that is evident in a school, parents and community working together.
  
  You are being invited to be a member of the Community Education Advisory Committee. Communities invited to attend represent Chesterfield, Roseland Heights, Rosemoor, Vernon Park and West Chesterfield.
  
  The meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 14, 2015 at 4:30pm at the West Chesterfield Community Center, 9351 S. Michigan.
  
  If you are Community Association President receiving this email and you have an association member who is serving as the education liaison for your organization, please feel free to extend this invitation to them also. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call at 312-972-8239.
  
  I look forward to our meeting. Thank you in advance for your anticipated participation and cooperation.
  
  Sincerely,
  

  
  Sharon Banks-Pincham

Now I wonder whatever came of Principal Reginald Evans. Where is he today?

Senior Resource Fair this Thursday!

 Via the office of Alderman Anthony Beale

• 9th Ward Senior Resource Fair
  Thursday, September 17, 2015
  10:00 am - 1:00 pm
  Victory Center of Roseland
  10450 S Michigan Ave.
  
  9th Ward Anthony A. Beale
  34 East 112th Place
  Chicago, Illinois 60628
  773.785.1100

Refer to flyer below for more information as to who the service providers are.

REVISITED: What would you like to see at 115th/Michigan?

115th/Michigan - Summer 2014

We did a post about this corner in June 2013 on this blog. The pics seen in this post save for the final historic post was taken in the summer of 2014. Consider this something of an election year post as I believe this corner could be a key one when the red line extension is finally built.

There are four people running for Alderman including the incumbent and he had three challengers. Hopefully all of them have an eye on this corner and perhaps their vision may not even include the red line extension although it is my belief this corner would benefit from the proposed stop over Michigan Avenue. Whatever the vision hopefully it would include some form of transit oriented development.

Over the years the lot at 115th & Michigan had a number of buildings including a shopping center that had been razed during the course of the last decade. That lot included a number of retail stores (such as a grocery store and Perry Drugs), restaurants (such as The Coffee Pot), and more. The most recent development plans for that lot included a future shopping center including an Aldi's.

Family Dollar 115th/Michigan

The vacant lot to the east on 115th/Michigan

What I failed to do in the other post was show a picture of how this intersection lookeback in the day. This business strip was actually an active area with plenty of activity but what happens over time things do change. Perhaps we'll see this again by the time the Red Line is up and running in the near future hopefully. Below is what you'd have seen at this intersection east of 115th/Michigan.

115th/Michigan in 1934

Now the burning question...what would you like to see here?

St James and Temple of Glory churches to protest THIS Sunday re: #BlackLivesMatter

From Rev. William Hall of St. James Evangelical Lutheran church (8000 S Michigan)

Tomorrow we will march down 79th from State to Eberhart praying on each corner.Our morning worship service will start 10:00am and directly following worship we will march down 79th.Rev. William HallPastorSt. James Lutheran Church

Pastor Fredrick Wilson of Temple of Glory International (311 E. 95th st.) is also planning a protest in conjunction with their 10am service. (Home page = http://www.ttogi.org/) 

I don't usually march or participate in politics but This is IMPORTANT!! I've been inspired by my friends Chris Harris Sr. LaRue I Pastor Kidd and Roosevelt Watkins!!
I need my soldiers tomorrow!!!! Our church is participating in a protest march against the violence and injustice in our nation, from our church to 95th St. & Cottage Grove immediately after church!! We need people! Invite friends! ‪#‎blacklivesmatter‬ (wear or bring comfortable shoes and warm clothes!)
The church MUST take part in this national movement!

Any other churches participating? Let us know BOTH here as a comment, and on Facebook.

Edit: Chatham Fields Lutheran Church at 8050 S. St. Lawrence is also participating.  Their service also begins in the 10 am hour. 

Edit: Temple of Glory is joining Bethlehem Star. See Pastor Roosevelt Watkins' Facebook announcement :

Join us as Bethlehem Star Church will be taking it to the streets, Sunday, Dec. 7th directly after service 1pm. We will gather at 9231 S. Cottage Gr and march to 95th & Cottage Gr. We will be joined by PastorFredrick E Wilson Jr. & Temple of Glory

Campaign HQ grand opening for 9th Ward candidate for Alderman Michael LaFargue

We just recieved word of this campaign office opening today from Michael LaFargue's 9th Ward Alderman campaign.

If you have any campaign news to share with us from wards 6, 9, & 21 please let us know!

• GRAND OPENING OF CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS FOR 9TH WARD ALDERMANIC CANDIDATE MICHAEL LaFARGUE
  
  CHICAGO, IL, October 15, 2014--Today, Co-Campaign Manager Sharon Banks-Pincham announced the official, campaign headquarters location for 9th Ward Candidate Michael LaFargue.
  
  The new campaign office address is 10842 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60628.
  
  To celebrate the launching of the new office location, Mr. LaFargue is hosting a grand opening on Friday October 17th, from 11:00 am. to 8:00 p.m.
  
  Residents throughout the ward are invited to visit and "meet and greet" with LaFargue. Light refreshments will be served and engaging conversation will be encouraged all day long.
  
  Mr. LaFargue, endorsed by "The People's Candidate" by the 9th Ward Aldermanic Search Community Council," will be on-hand to talk to area residents all day. He will be available to answer questions regarding hot topic community and city issues, in addition to area resident concerns.

The "non-Magnificent Mile"

[VIDEO] Close to three years, YoChicago shared this video by Partee Wesley doing a drive along south Michigan Avenue - this thoroughfare he refers to as the "great Michigan" or the "non-Magnificient Mile" - between 120th and 110th Streets in the Roseland area.

In spite of this bleakness, Partee's comments makes this video hilarious. We see vacant lots and abandoned buildings along this street and with a detour along Edbrooke near 110th St. And he makes reference to why the 2016 Summer Olympics didn't come to town. At that point the memory of that disappointment was still quite fresh!

Now, I post this video in relation to the 2015 election. It's easy for me to compare Roseland to Englewood. Both communities after significant "white flight" had experienced some declines over the years. The difference however is that Englewood's business district was largely decimated thanks to urban renewal efforts in the past, but the Roseland business district is still in tact but certainly could use a greater investment.

It seems the main development has occurred east in the Pullman neighborhood in recent years with House of Hope and the Pullman Park shopping center that contains Walmart, Ross, and a Planet Fitness. Earlier this summer there was a groundbreaking for the new Pullman Athletic Center. Also a Method Products factory is being built behind the shopping center

This part of the city is another area in need of investment.

9th Ward Back to School parade, picnic, & health fair

I apologize for this short notice. This event is expected to occur tomorrow afternoon and is worth noting here.

Further information is below:

• Alderman Anthony A. Beale's 15th Annual Back-to-School Parade, Picnic and Health Fair
  Join Alderman Anthony Beale for his 15th Annual Back-to-School Event
  Saturday, August 16, 2014
  
  Parade Kick-off: 11:00 a.m.
  Roseland Little League
  12483 South Michigan Ave.
  Picnic Immediately Following in Palmer Park
  201 E. 111th Street
  
  Alderman/Committeeman Anthony A. Beale
  34 East 112th Place
  Chicago, Illinois 60628
  773.785.1100

Flyer is below

PHOTO: "#Chiberia" in Abbott Park

Click picture for a larger resolution

Before the warmer temps and rain came by on Friday, I took this panorama of Abbott Park on Wednesday just to show the snow that accumulated over the past weekend. Many of our parks could look like a version of "chiberia" I'll bet! Does anyone else have any winter weather pics to share?

God's on the Block Party TODAY -- and much more!

From a press release via Chinta Strausburg

"GOD'S ON BLOCK" BLOCK PARTY TODAY AND IT's FREE


The Greater Institutional AME Church, headed by Rev. Dr. Walter B. Johnson, Jr.,7800 South Indiana Avenue, Chicago, IL, is hosting a free "God's on the Block" Block Party today, Saturday, August 3, 2013, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on 78th Street between Michigan and Indiana Streets and Indiana between 78th and 79th Streets.

There will be food, entertainment, raffle, giveaways, clowns, CFD, CPD, basketball, dancing, health screening, documents shredding, Illinois Chip Program and a lot more.

For further information, call: C. Johnson at: 773.874.7100, Ext. 7808 or 312.307.3364



======

Also happening is a Peace March from Salvation Church of God and Rev. Marc Robertson.

They leave at Forman Mills on 79th Street, march to King Drive, then down 83rd, to end at Salvation Church of God.

115th/Michigan: What would YOU like to see here?

Southwest Corner of 115th/Michigan in Roseland

The picture shown above is the southwestern corner of 115th/Michigan Ave in the Roseland neighborhood sometime in the fall of 2012. The lot here was home to a shopping center that contained restaurants, laundromat, and retail such as Perry Drugs which eventually became a Christian bookstore and a grocery store. Further down on Michigan near a railroad viaduct was a Church's Chicken which is now gone as well. You can check out the pictures of the demolition of this area at Roseland, South Side of Chicago.

I'm interested in this area because it's the location of one of the new stops on the CTA Red Line whenever the extension is finally built. As a matter of fact there is the railroad that runs along this property which follows the approximate route of the extension. And let's not forget the Red Line South project is expected to help to facilitate the eventual extension from 95th Street. Until that time however, what could be located here when the trains are finally running?

In another picture shown below is a sign with the name of the owner Musa Tadros located on the fence of the northwest corner of 115th/Michigan. Most of us may have heard that name before as he's responsible for Chatham Village Square near 87th/Cottage Grove for example. Also we here blogged about him developing this very lot with Aldi's a possible an anchor there.

The building you see below was home to a former Hollywood Video store that has long been shuttered. It's on the same lot as Curtis Elementary School located on 115th/State and apparently it's also owned by Tadros' real estate company. One can only wonder what might attract a potential tenant to this property.

I thought about this, what if the lot on the southwestern corner was developed with "transit-oriented" development in mind. Perhaps some commercial spaces could be built with the commuter in mind. A place to buy a quick breakfast, buy some quick produce, or a news stand. Also while three bus routes pass through this intersection I could envision a terminal for those buses to pass through although who knows if that's feasible or not.

Anyway, the question to be asked here is what would you like to see here? And of course, the floor is open to any of our readers who just so happen to reside near this part of Roseland.

Photo of Abbott Park sexual assault suspect

We had a hard time getting this photo on the blog, but here is a photo of the sexual assault suspect.

And here is the news story from the Chicago Tribune:

Police issued a community alert this afternoon warning of a sexual assault in Abbott Park on the South Side in the city's Roseland neighborhood.



A woman was waiting for the bus on the 9500 block of South Michigan Ave between the hours of 2 to 6 a.m. on Aug. 18, A man approached her from behind and pulled her into Abbott Park where she was beaten and sexually assaulted.

Please be careful out there, but also watchful, so we can catch these crimnals!

Here's a description:

The man was described as black, between the ages of 24 to 33, between 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds, police said.

He has a medium complexion with brown eyes and a low cut Mohawk, police said.

He was last seen wearing a black long sleeve shirt and dark blue jeans.

If you have any info please contact Area South Bureau detectives at 312-747-8271.

FLY DUMPING AT NORTH END OF 77th BLOCK ALLEY BETWEEN MICHIGAN & WABASH

Message forwarded to us from Mrs. Haley, president of the 75th,76th,77th,78th Wabash Block Club, via  Leslie Honore of Greater Chatham Alliance:

Dear Neighbors,

We are having a problem with fly dumping at the north end of the 77th block alley between Michigan and Wabash. Someone is dumping large sheets of drywall. This has been happening periodically since November. Please, please, please get a license plate number if you see anyone dumping materials in the alley. Call the police and the alderman's office. Also, someone has fly dumped tires on the property of the Sparkle Car Wash.

H. Haley

President

75th,76th,77th,78th Wabash Block Club

Please help us catch these criminals, and respect our neighborhood.