Clinton Elementary School Clean-up Day April 26th

Clinton Elementary School Clean-up Day
Help us clean up our local elementary school grounds.
9:30 AM to 12:00 PM on Saturday, April 26th, 2008
6110 N. Fairfield Ave, Chicago IL 60659
50th ward Streets and Sanitation will provide some cleaning materials.
Bring you racks and brooms to help.
Refreshments will be available.
For more information contact Emily at 773-583-1387

Rummage Sale at Christ Church of Chicago

Rummage Sale at Christ Church of Chicago on April 26, 2008 from 8 AM to 4 PM.
Clothes for all ages, Household Items, Books, Videos, records, CD's, Toys, Games, Kitchen Appliances, Dishes, Linens, Decorative items, Luggage, Furniture, Collectibles, Sports equipment, Tools, electronic equipment, Musical instruments, bedding, Antiques,

Hot Dogs, drinks, and snacks will be available for sale.

Christ Church is Located:6047 N. Rockwell, Just north of Peterson Ave. and west of Western Ave.

Rogers Park / West Ridge Historical Society

The Rogers Park / West Ridge Historical Society is pleased to announce its 22nd annual House Tour to take place Sunday, May 4, 2008, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. The tour features homes, a place of worship and a commercial structure of historic interest in the West Ridge neighborhood.

In support of Preservation Chicago’s nomination of the Devon Avenue District as one of the Chicago Seven Most Endangered Sites, this tour includes one of the first structures of significance built on Devon in the 1920s. The Rance family of developers erected the white terracotta-clad Gothic revival Barnett Building at the corner of Devon and Western in 1927, on the heels of construction of their own Prudential Real Estate building one door east. Henry B. Rance and his sons Arthur and Hubert were leaders in the early growth of Devon Avenue as well as the adjacent residential areas.

The imposing Rance family home will also be featured, as well as five historic Chicago bungalows and single family dwellings, and the St. James Presbyterian church. All of the tour structures date to the post WWI 1920s building boom which changed the fabric of West Ridge from rural to urban.

On the day of the tour registration begins at 12:45 p.m. at the Warren Park Field House, located at 6601 N. Western Avenue.

To purchase advance tickets for pick-up at Warren Park on the day of the event, please mail a check for $20.00 per ticket to the Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society at 7344 North Western Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60645-1814. Advance tickets for RP/WRHS members are $16.00. Tickets may also be purchased in person from the Society, please call (773) 764-4078 for details. On the day of the tour, tickets will be available for $25.00 or $20.00 for RP/WRHS members.

For additional information, please contact:
Glenna Eaves
Volunteer Services Director
Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society
rapzl@aol.com

Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society
7344 N. Western
Chicago, Illinois 60645-1814
Phone (773) 764-4078 or (773)764-4079www.rpwrhs.org

Make a Difference in Your Neighborhood

Attend our Monthly Meeting:

Wednesday March 26^th at 7:00 pm

Christ Church of Chicago

6047 N. Rockwell 

(corner of Rockwell and Glenlake)

The meeting will be held in the church basement.  Refreshments will be served!

Meeting on Tuesday 2-26-08

Did you know that 6121 and 6134 N. Washtenaw are vacant buildings?

Did you know both buildings are significantly lowering your property values?

Did you know both buildings are increasing your insurance rates?

Did you know that they a safety hazard for you and your children?

Did you know…..that these buildings attract rodents and are a fire hazard? 

Call 311 and report these buildings to the city!

Call 911 and ask the police to write a citation!

Call the alderman’s office at 773-761-6300

Attend a meeting to discuss this issue on 02/26/08 at the Christ Church of Chicago 6047 N. Rockwell (the corner of Rockwell and Glenlake), 7:00 PM.

For more information call Emily at 773-583-1387

Together we can make a difference!

North Side Alliance Meeting 1/22/08

Notes from Meeting 1/22/08

 

Hello North Side Alliance!

 

I hope everyone is surviving the cold.  Despite the weather, we had a great, very productive meeting Tuesday night at the Fluffy Turtle.  We started out the meeting recapping what we’ve accomplished in 2007.  From holding five meetings, to organizing a large meeting with Streets and Sanitation, to participating in/organizing 2 neighborhood cleanup days and to learning a great deal about vacant buildings in the neighborhood and getting started on what we can do to get them cleaned up, we have managed to begin a strong process of community change.  For all that couldn’t come last night, give yourselves a round of applause. 

 

Maggie mentioned two ongoing projects to invite everyone else to participate.  We learned that the Aldermen are currently in the process of submitting their Aldermanic Menu, which is a budget for ward projects, and community groups can ask for specific funds to go to different needs.  Maggie composed a letter which she will send in to the Ward office requesting funding for things like garbage cans on high-traffic areas.  She will also be attending a garden club meeting to learn about how to get funding for garden projects.  Contact Maggie for more info on these two projects.

 

Mary then reported on the meeting held in December between NSA and Edgewater Community Council to talk about the work they have done on vacant buildings.  See previous emails for the full notes on this meeting.

 

We then decided to use a tool called a Strategy Chart to help map out what our next steps will be to address the vacant buildings.  Please see the full version below.  The resulting decision was that our goal is to put pressure on both the city (specifically the Police and the Department of Buildings) and the owners of the two vacant buildings identified on 6100 Washtenaw to get them in compliance with the code.  The first step was getting as many letters as possible sent to these parties signed by neighbors in the area.  Some people decided to canvass the area around the buildings with this purpose on a date in February to be determined.  The drafted letter to the building owners is attached to this email.  Please circulate!  Feel free to make personal changes.  

 

Next meeting date: February 26^th. 

 

Best wishes,

Emily

 

STRAGETY CHART: HOW TO SOLVE THE VACANT BUILDINGS ISSUE

 

GOALS:

1. Reduce the number of abandoned buildings in the neighborhood to as few as possible (long-term goal)
2. Bring the two problem buildings on 6100 Washtenaw up to code (short-term goal)
3. Ongoing building maintenance, safety and surveillance (mid-term)

 

ORGANIZATONAL CONSIDERATIONS:

1. We have 15-20 regular members and about 40 total
2. One of our members is a lawyer
3. We have a blog established (http://nsa50.blogspot.com/)
4. We have challenges to overcome:
1. Need more community presence
2. Need to improve our communication (schools/papers)
3. Want a more diverse membership

 

CONSTITUENTS, ALLIES AND OPPONENTS

1. Constituents
1. Neighborhood residents, especially the ones who live and own homes near 6100 Washtenaw
2. Schools, especially Clinton School
3. Indo American Center
4. Christ Church of Chicago
5.  
2. Allies
1. WRPCO
2. CAPS
3. The Fluffy Turtle, Susan and other business owners
4. Edgewater Community Council
5. Chamber of Commerce
6. Ald. Stone?
7. Streets and Sanitation
3. Opponents
1. Ald. Stone?
2. Building owners

 

TARGETS (Who can give us what we want?)

1. Building Owners – clean up their buildings!
2. Police – issue citations to owners for violations
3. Stone – get everyone else to do their job
4. Department of buildings – Inspect the buildings

 

TACTICS

1. Flyers
1. Inform people about what’s going on
2. Action steps about what to do: call 311, send a letter
2. Go door-to-door to pass out flyers and talk to people
3. Get a high volume of 311 calls in
4. write lots of letters to the city and building owners
5. copy the letters to ald. Stone and the dept. of buildings
6. Get the Media involved
7. Post the buildings on thegoodthebadtheugly of the 50^th ward blog
8. send a mailing to surrounding residents

 

NEXT STEPS

1. Start sending letters to the building owners
2. Send letters to the Dept. of Buildings (Sofia will draft)
3. Canvass the area near the buildings in February with flyers and letters
4. Write and distribute a neighborhood newsletter with the information

 

NEXT MEETING: FEB. 26TH

Trash