The Fulton River District Association (FRDA) held a State of the 42nd Ward Evening with Alderman Brendan Reilly on Tuesday January 22nd. The event was attended by close to 100 residents of the newly redistricted 42nd Ward.
The meeting began with FRDA President Larry Gage welcoming those in attendance and thanking the host for the night, OVIE Bar and Restaurant. He then announced to the crowd that the FRDA would be officially joining Neighbors of West Loop, “an organization of pro-active volunteers formed over a year ago to advocate and advance issues important to residents of the entire West Loop.” He explained that the relationship had been forged over the past few months and was “extremely advantageous to both groups as we share so many boundaries and districts like the 1st and 12th district police, two neighborhood schools in Skinner and Ogden and the Aldermanic Wards of the 42nd and 27th.” “The expanded area which will stretch from the River to Ashland gives us strength in numbers and the experience of members who include CAPS Beat facilitators, area Park PAC Presidents, former delegate agency board members and Local School Council representatives to name just a few.”
Following this announcement Mr. Gage introduced the main speaker of the night, the Honorable Brendan Reilly of the 42nd Ward.
Alderman Reilly immediately said he applauded the idea of the Fulton River District expanding with Neighbors of West Loop and that it made a lot of sense. He also hoped that the larger group “might help to force some of the Alderman along Ward boundary lines in the area to work together more with regards to development which does not always happen.”
Regarding development throughout his Ward, the Alderman stated that there are over 70 pending zoning projects. “This is the longest cue of projects in the pipeline since 2007” said Alderman Reilly. People are eager to invest in Chicago. “I am meeting with developers some days 8 to 9 hours.” “I just want to get the job done right for my constituents” he exclaimed.
The Alderman also discussed the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) project as it pertains to the 42nd Ward area. He explained that the City wants Federal Grants to create the light rail which will have dedicated bus lanes. People will be able to go from Union Station to Michigan Avenue and eventually Navy Pier in about 10 minutes.
Capping of the Kennedy was brought up. The Alderman said that “This is a fantastic idea, however financing is a huge issue.” “The idea that there is a huge pot of money is just not true and a lot of the TIF Money in the area has already been dedicated to fund the BRT project along Ashland.” (The Alderman did state that there is a lot of resistance to the Ashland project and it may or may not happen but it was well out of his ward)
A topic very near and dear to residents of the 42nd Ward is Parks and Green Space. The Alderman agreed that more needs to be done with regard to Green Space. “There are more and more families with children and dogs moving into the Ward”. Private Developers need to incorporate more green space. Children need playgrounds and dogs need more dog parks “and they should not be close to each other in location”. “I am pushing that any new residential development in the area must incorporate a large on premise dog area.”
The Alderman informed the attendees that between to the two projects of 150 N Riverside and the Riverpoint Project, 2 1/2 acres of green space will be added to the Ward. Riverpoint will have 1 1/2 acres of privately maintained but publicly accessible green space.
When discussing the Central area action plan, Alderman Reilly explained that “the plan was designed with the Olympics in mind and now that that has not happened it should be re-done with strong community input from groups like the Neighbors of West Loop.”
After the Alderman spoke he opened up the meeting to Q&A.
When asked about the recent redistricting process he responded, “This redistricting was my first experience with it and redistricting was obviously not science, it was entirely political.”
The meeting concluded with an opportunity for neighbors to mingle in the private room at Ovie Bar and Restaurant.
FRDA and NOWL would like to thank Alderman Reilly for attending the State of the Ward evening and addressing the residents. We would also like to thank Chef Mark Chmielewski and staff for hosting us.